A macroscopic relationship for preferential flow in the vadose zone: Theory and Validation
Preferential flow commonly observed in unsaturated soils allows rapid movement of solute from the ground surface or vadose zone to the groundwater, bypassing a significant volume of unsaturated soil and increasing the risk of groundwater contamination. A variety of evidence indicates that complex preferential flow patterns observed from fields are fractals. This paper discusses a macroscopic rela-tionship for modeling preferential flow in the vadose zone. Conceptually, the flow domain can be di-vided into active and inactive regions. Flow occurs preferentially in the active region (characterized by fractals), and inactive region is simply bypassed. The portion of the active region was found to be a power function of saturation. The validity of this macroscopic relationship is demonstrated by its consistency with field observations and the related numerical experiments.
- Research Organization:
- Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA (US)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- Earth Sciences Division
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-05CH11231
- OSTI ID:
- 985734
- Report Number(s):
- LBNL-3688E
- Journal Information:
- Science in China Series E: Technological Sciences, Journal Name: Science in China Series E: Technological Sciences Journal Issue: 11 Vol. 52
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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