AN EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF A SEMI-ANALYTICAL INFILTRATION MODEL FOR ERRATIC RAINFALL

摘要

Careful laboratory observations were used to test the general model proposed by Corradini et al. ([1]) for local infiltration-redistribution-reinfiltration in a homogeneous soil. A laboratory slope in a nearly horizontal position was used. Infiltration into the loam soil was forced by a rainfall event characterized by two storms with intensity 22 mm h~(-1) separated by a rainfall hiatus of 18 h. Adopting an exponential function for the vertical profile of water content, θ, the model simulated very accurately the θ profiles, particularly during the infiltration and reinfiltration stages. Lastly, experimental and theoretical simulations indicated that the use of a compound profile after a redistribution period was a correct approximation of the actual profiles.