University of SaskatchewanHARVEST
  • Login
  • Submit Your Work
  • About
    • About HARVEST
    • Guidelines
    • Browse
      • All of HARVEST
      • Communities & Collections
      • By Issue Date
      • Authors
      • Titles
      • Subjects
      • This Collection
      • By Issue Date
      • Authors
      • Titles
      • Subjects
    • My Account
      • Login
      JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.
      View Item 
      • HARVEST
      • Electronic Theses and Dissertations
      • Graduate Theses and Dissertations
      • View Item
      • HARVEST
      • Electronic Theses and Dissertations
      • Graduate Theses and Dissertations
      • View Item

      Characterization of surface soil hydraulic properties in sloping landscapes

      Thumbnail
      View/Open
      bodwl.pdf (1.415Mb)
      Date
      2003-11-26
      Author
      Waduwawatte Lekamalage, Bodhinayake
      Type
      Thesis
      Degree Level
      Masters
      Metadata
      Show full item record
      Abstract
      Saturated and near-saturated surface soil hydraulic properties influence the partition of rainfall and snowmelt into infiltration and runoff. The goal of this study was to characterize near-saturated surface soil hydraulic properties and water-conducting porosity in sloping landscapes. The specific objectives included exploration of tension and double-ring infiltrometers for estimation of soil hydraulic properties in sloping landscapes, development of an improved method for determining water-conducting porosity, and the application of these methods in characterizing soil hydraulic properties and water-conducting porosity under three land use. Water infiltration from a double-ring infiltrometer and a tension infiltrometer at water pressures between -2.2 and -0.3 kPa was measured in a cultivated field with 0, 7, 15, and 20% slopes at Laura and under three land use (native grass, brome grass and cultivated) at St. Denis in Saskatchewan, Canada. Three-dimensional computer simulation studies were also performed for tension infiltrometer with various disc diameters, water pressures, and surface slopes. Steady infiltration rates and estimated field-saturated hydraulic conductivity (Kfs), hydraulic conductivity-water pressure relationship (K(h)), and inverse capillary length parameter were compared for different slopes and land use. These parameters were not significantly different (p 1×10-3 m in diameter) of the cultivated land and the grasslands, respectively. Experimental and simulation results of this study indicated that both tension and double-ring infiltrometers are suitable for characterization of saturated and near-saturated surface soil hydraulic properties in landscapes up to 20% slope. The new method can be used to characterize water-conducting porosity from in situ tension and double-ring infiltrometers measurements more adequately and efficiently than the existing methods. Application of these methods for three land use indicated that land use modified surface soil hydraulic properties and consequently may alter the water balance of an area by affecting the partition between, and relative amount of infiltration and surface runoff.
      Degree
      Master of Science (M.Sc.)
      Department
      Soil Science
      Program
      Soil Science
      Supervisor
      Si, Bing C.
      Committee
      Walley, Frances L.; van der Kamp, Garth; Pennock, Dan J.
      Copyright Date
      November 2003
      URI
      http://hdl.handle.net/10388/etd-03152004-212626
      Subject
      macropores
      soil hydraulic properties
      sloping landscapes
      tension infiltrometer
      water-conducting porosity
      land use
      Collections
      • Graduate Theses and Dissertations
      University of Saskatchewan

      University Library

      © University of Saskatchewan
      Contact Us | Disclaimer | Privacy