Steady and transient infiltration in unsaturated soils with hydraulic diffusivity dependent on volumetric soil water content

摘要

A survey of the present possible theoretical solutions of Richards' equation precedes a treatment of the problem of water flow in unsaturated soils with the variational method, in the hypothesis of hydraulic diffusivity anyhow variable with the soil water content, considering an arbitrary volume, with horizontal infiltration and with possible presence of a sink function of any value. The theoretical results so obtained are then applied to some particular cases, plotting the final results.