Miller scaling of finger properties in sandy soils: An indirect method for estimating finger width and velocity.

摘要

Wetting front instability is gravity driven and breaks a uniform flat front into vertically moving fingers. Linear stability analysis, dimensional analysis, and experimentation have yielded formulations in two-dimensional systems. Nondimensionalizing the flow equations yields scaled forms of the conductivity and moisture characteristics containing the microscopic length scale; fluid density; fluid dynamic viscosity; and fluid surface tension. 39 refs., 5 figs., 1 tab.