CE 309 WATER RESOURCES ENGINEERING Unit 3

Infiltration

1. Saturation zone : A thin layer at

1. Saturation zone
top
2. Transition zone
2. Transition zone : Transition
between saturation and
3. Transmission zone
transmission zone.
Unit 3
3. Transmission zone : Downward
Infiltration movement start in this zone 4. Wetting zone Wetting front
• The moisture content is above
field capacity but below saturation

4. Wetting zone: The soil moisture in this zone will be at or near field capacity
• Moisture content decreases with depth.
• The boundary of the wetting zone is called wetting front
• A sharp discontinuity exists between the newly wet soil and original
moisture content of the soil

CE 309 WATER RESOURCES ENGINEERING Unit 3 CE 309 WATER RESOURCES ENGINEERING Unit 3
Infiltration Infiltration Capacity

Infiltration is the process by which precipitated water

moves down through the surface of the earth and The maximum rate at which a given soil at a given time
replenishes soil moisture, recharge aquifers, and can absorb water is defined as infiltration capacity.
ultimately support runoff quantities.
fp : Infiltration capacity.
1. Saturation zone
f : Actual rate of infiltration
2. Transition zone

When water is applied to the i : Intensity of rainfall

surface of a soil, four moisture 3. Transmission zone
zones are identified

4. Wetting zone f = fp when i ≥ fp

f=i when i ≤ fp

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 CE 309 WATER RESOURCES ENGINEERING Unit 3 CE 309 WATER RESOURCES ENGINEERING Unit 3
Factors Affecting Infiltration Capacity Infiltrometer

Simple Infiltrometer
1. Characteristics of the soil : Texture, porosity and hydraulic
conductivity 30 cm dia.
5 cm
10 cm
2. Condition of the soil surface

3. Current moisture content

4. Vegetative cover

5. Soil temperature
The water added into the tube at regular time
intervals to maintain a constant depth is noted from
which the infiltration curve can be drawn.

CE 309 WATER RESOURCES ENGINEERING Unit 3 CE09 L15 : SURFACE HYDROLOGY AND WATER POWER Unit 2
Measurement of Infiltration Infiltrometers
Double ring Infiltrometer
1. Using flooding type infiltrometers

i. Simple (Tube type) infiltrometer

ii. Double ring infiltrometer

2. Measurement of subsidence of free water in a large

basin or pond Two rings (22.5 to 90 cm diameter) are driven into the
ground by a driving plate and hammer, to penetrate into
3. Rain fall simulator
the soil uniformly without tilt or undue disturbance of
4. Hydrograph analysis
the soil surface to a depth of 15 cm.
Video

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 CE 309 WATER RESOURCES ENGINEERING Unit 3 CE 309 WATER RESOURCES ENGINEERING Unit 3
Infiltrometer Infiltration indices

Double ring Infiltrometer

Three types of infiltration indices
 Water is poured into the rings to maintain the desired
depth (2.5 to 15 cm with a minimum of 5 mm) 1. Φ – index

 The water added to maintain the original constant 2. W- index

depth at regular time intervals of 5, 10, 15, 20, 30,
40, 60 min, etc. up to a period of at least 6 hours is 3. fave-index
noted

 The results are plotted as infiltration rate in cm/hr

versus time in minutes

CE 309 WATER RESOURCES ENGINEERING Unit 3 CE 309 WATER RESOURCES ENGINEERING Unit 3
Infiltration indices Infiltration indices
• The actual infiltration Φ - Index
rate will be varying with
time. The φ-index is defined as that rate of rainfall above
which the rainfall volume equals the runoff volume.
• Infiltration rate is high
in the beginning when 𝐵𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒
soil is dry. ∅ − 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑥 =
𝐷𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑎𝑙𝑙
• Infiltration rate reaches
a steady state later
when the soil has
become wet.

Estimates of runoff volume from large areas are

sometimes made by the use of infiltration indices, which
assume a constant average infiltration rate during a storm

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 CE 309 WATER RESOURCES ENGINEERING Unit 3 CE 309 WATER RESOURCES ENGINEERING Unit 3
Infiltration indices Horton’s model of infiltration
W - Index
The infiltration rate (f) at any time t is given by Horton’s equation.
The W-index is the average infiltration rate during the
time rainfall intensity exceeds the infiltration capacity 𝑓 =𝑓 + 𝑓 −𝑓 𝑒
rat.
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 f0 = initial rate of infiltration capacity
W − 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑥 =
𝐷𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑚 𝑑𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑖 > 𝑓
fc = final constant rate of infiltration at saturation
𝑃−𝑄−𝑆 t = time from beginning of the storm
=
𝑡
k = a constant depending primarily upon soil and vegetation
P : Precipitation 𝑓 −𝑓
=
Q : Surface Runoff 𝐹
Fc = shaded area in Fig.
S : Surface retention storage

CE 309 WATER RESOURCES ENGINEERING Unit 3 CE 309 WATER RESOURCES ENGINEERING Unit 3
Infiltration indices Horton’s model of infiltration
fave - Index
In this method, an average infiltration loss is assumed
throughout the storm, for the period i > f.

Exercise 3-1

The rates of rainfall for the successive 30 min period

of a 3-hour storm are: 1.6, 3.6, 5.0, 2.8, 2.2, 1.0
cm/hr. The corresponding surface runoff is estimated
to be 3.6 cm. Establish the φ-index. Also determine
the W-index.

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 CE 309 WATER RESOURCES ENGINEERING Unit 3
Horton’s model of infiltration
Exercise 3-2
Infiltration capacity data obtained in a flooding type infiltration test is
given below.

Time since
5 10 15 25 45 60 75 90 110 130
start (Min)
Cumulative
infiltration 1.75 3.00 3.95 5.50 7.25 8.30 9.30 10.2 11.28 12.36
Depth
(a) For this data plot the curves of (i) infiltration capacity vs time (ii)
infiltration capacity vs cumulative infiltration and (iii) cumulative
infiltration vs time
(b) Obtain the best values of the parameters in Horton’s infiltration
capacity equation to represent this data set

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