Predicting the hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated soils from a soil moisture profile

摘要

A model of dynamic soil moisture distribution in unsaturated soil is proposed as a simple solution to Klute's equation. This model can represent relationships among soil moisture, depth and elapsed time using a sigmoid function. By substituting this model into Klute's equation (the governing equation of one-dimensional vertical seepage flow in the unsteady state), Klute's equation can be solved easily and the hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated soil can be obtained without suction data.