Lysimeters are commonly used for field-scale assessment of water balance ofearthen caps, commonly referred to as evapotranspirative (ET) caps. While lysimetersare the only direct tool to measure percolation through a cap, the lower hydraulicboundary of a lysimeter is significantly different compared to an actual ET cap. Inthis study, numerical simulations of water balance of lysimeters and ET caps werecarried out using Vadose/W for a range of hydraulic properties of the soils and waste.The numerical results suggest that due to the presence of waste below the cap, the soilwater storage of an ET cap is greater than an equivalent lysimeter. This greater waterstorage capacity in an actual ET cap results in lower percolation than for anequivalent lysimeter.
展开▼
