Investigation of infiltration rates under different experimental conditions

Abstract

This paper presents the results of laboratory experimental studies on soil infiltration rates (IR) using constant-head (CH) and falling-head (FH) methodologies. The study also determined the initial moisture content of the soil and classified the soil in accordance with American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). Infiltration characteristics were measured for two different scenarios: Before Irrigation (BI) and After Irrigation (AI). The infiltration results of FH and CH showed that the initial moisture content highly affects the magnitude of the final IR as the infiltration capacity of the tested soils decreases for AI cases. CH final IRs observed were much higher than their FH analogues. This is consistent with other literature though the discrepancy here is larger than reported elsewhere. FH methodology is recommended for application to near surface processes, such as sprinkler irrigation where the measured value of IR is most representative of the actual soil IR.