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Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons

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Water Resource Management

Utah State University

Soil

Publication Year

Articles 1 - 4 of 4

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Inverse Method For Simultaneous Determination Of Soil Water Flux Density And Thermal Properties With A Penta-Needle Heat Pulse Probe, Changbing Yang, Masaru Sakai, Scott B. Jones Sep 2013

Inverse Method For Simultaneous Determination Of Soil Water Flux Density And Thermal Properties With A Penta-Needle Heat Pulse Probe, Changbing Yang, Masaru Sakai, Scott B. Jones

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

An accurate method for determination of in situ soil water flux density continues to be the most sought after and yet elusive hydrologic measurement. The penta-needle heat pulse probe (PHPP) employs a central heater needle surrounded by an orthogonal arrangement of four thermistor needles for two-component water flux density estimation. An analytical solution and inverse fitting method are presented for simultaneous estimation of thermal properties and soil water flux density using PHPP measurements. The approach yields estimates of both components of the flux in a plane normal to the axis of the PHPP needles. The method was evaluated using data …


A Novel Analytical Solution To Steady-State Evaporation From Soil And Film Region Thickness, Morteza Sadeghi, Nima Shokri, Scott B. Jones Sep 2012

A Novel Analytical Solution To Steady-State Evaporation From Soil And Film Region Thickness, Morteza Sadeghi, Nima Shokri, Scott B. Jones

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

Evaporation from soil and other porous media constitutes a significant source of water loss affecting global water balance and energy exchange between land and atmosphere. The presence of a shallow water table can lead to sustained water loss that is dependent on porous media hydraulic properties and water table depth among other factors. In this paper, an exact analytical solution to steady state evaporation from porous media is developed using the Brooks-Corey hydraulic conductivity model. The solution is presented in terms of a set of infinite series. An advantage of this solution compared to previous derivations is that the infinite …


Numerical Evaluation Of Subsurface Soil Water Evaporation Derived From Sensible Heat Balance, Masaru Sakai, Scott B. Jones, Markus Tuller Feb 2011

Numerical Evaluation Of Subsurface Soil Water Evaporation Derived From Sensible Heat Balance, Masaru Sakai, Scott B. Jones, Markus Tuller

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

A recently introduced measurement approach allows in situ determination of subsurface soil water evaporation by means of heat-pulse probes (HPP). The latent heat component of subsurface evaporation is estimated from the residual of the sensible heat balance. This heat balance method requires measurement of vertical soil temperature and estimates of thermal properties for soil water evaporation determination. Our objective was to employ numerically simulated thermal and hydraulic processes using constant or diurnally cycled surface boundary conditions to evaluate and understand this technique. Three observation grid spacings, namely, 6 mm (tri-needle HPP), 3 mm (penta-needle HPP) and 1 mm, along with …


Geophysical Imaging Of Watershed Subsurface Patterns And Prediction Of Soil Texture And Water Holding Capacity, H. Abdu, D. A. Robinson, M. Seyfried, Scott B. Jones Apr 2008

Geophysical Imaging Of Watershed Subsurface Patterns And Prediction Of Soil Texture And Water Holding Capacity, H. Abdu, D. A. Robinson, M. Seyfried, Scott B. Jones

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

The spatial distribution of subsurface soil textural properties across the landscape is an important control on the hydrological and ecological function of a watershed. Traditional methods of mapping soils involving subjective assignment of soil boundaries are inadequate for studies requiring a quantitative assessment of the landscape and its subsurface connectivity and storage capacity. Geophysical methods such as electromagnetic induction (EMI) provide the possibility of obtaining high-resolution images across a landscape to identify subtle changes in subsurface soil patterns. In this work we show how EMI can be used to image the subsurface of a ∼38 ha watershed. We present an …