Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Estimating Unsaturated Hydraulic Functions For Coarse Sediment From A Field-Scale Infiltration Experiment, Michael Thoma, Warren Barrash, Michael Cardiff, John Bradford, Jodi Mead

Jodi Mead

A field-scale infiltration experiment was conducted in coarse conglomeratic soil with high gravel fraction. Unsaturated flow properties were estimated from modeling of infiltration using the van Genuchten–Mualem model and a Metropolis–Hasting optimization scheme. Results provide optimal unsaturated flow parameters for a soil type that is underrepresented for vadose zone flow. Conglomeratic alluvial sediments (sand–gravel–cobbles) are common in fluvial, periglacial, and tectonically active regions but have received little attention with respect to unsaturated flow, specifically moisture–tension–conductivity relationships, due to difficulty in making measurements in the field or laboratory and lack of agricultural value. We used a field-scale infiltration experiment, a one-dimensional …