Preferential flow of soil water applying the Darcy-Buckingham equation and the soil water balance method

• Grant number: 11/00994-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: May 01, 2011
• End date: April 30, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Soil Science
• Principal Investigator: Paulo Leonel Libardi
• Grantee: Helon Hébano de Freitas Sousa
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Knowledge of the processes involving the movement of water in the soil is of fundamental importance to management and conservation of soil and water. There are situations when, during an intense rain event, water moves more quickly through channels without interaction with the soil matrix; this movement is called preferential flow. It is currently accepted in field studies the existence of this preferential flow in a wide variety of soils. However, many methods used to determine it directly alter the flow of water through the soil matrix, draining process of unquestionable relevance in soils. In a recent study conducted in Japan, this problem was successfully overcome by the simultaneous application, during and shortly after rainfall events, of the Darcy-Buckingham equation and the soil water balance method: the Darcy-Buckingham equation infers on the presence of preferential flow of water defined in this approach, as the residue from the soil water balance equation during rain events. Therefore, this method has the advantage of making possible the experimental determination under field conditions, of preferential flow at a given soil depth without significantly interrupting the matric flow of water. The aim of this study is to determine and characterize preferential flow of water at depths corresponding to argillic and ferralic horizons in Hapludox in field conditions by applying the Buckingham-Darcy equation and the soil water balance method during and shortly after rainfall events. (AU)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

SOUSA, Helon Hébano de Freitas. Preferential flow of water in the soil by applying Darcy-Buckingham\'s equation and the soil water balance. 2014. Doctoral Thesis - Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALA/BC) Piracicaba.