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Representation of the Influence of Soil Structure on Hydraulic Conductivity Prediction
  • Yunquan Wang,
  • Rui Ma,
  • Gaofeng Zhu
Yunquan Wang
China University of Geosciences

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Rui Ma
China University of Geosciences
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Gaofeng Zhu
Lanzhou University
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Abstract

The significant impact of soil structure on soil hydraulic properties and then on the associated water and solute transport is well recognized. However, existing soil hydraulic models that account for the effect of soil structure are often at the cost of overparameterization, hindering further application on large scales. In this study, we developed a new model that considers the effect of soil structure in hydraulic conductivity prediction when introducing no new free parameters. Testing with 152 soil samples that include different soil types shows that the new model considerably improves the prediction of conductivity, with an average root-mean-square-value (RMSE) of 0.65 cm dāˆ’1. When applying the new model in fitting observations, the model showed excellent performance, with an RMSE of only 0.30 cm dāˆ’1 remaining. This new soil hydraulic model provides a simple and practical way to incorporate the influence of soil structure in water and solute transport simulations.