BASIC CONCEPTS IN

SOIL AND WATER

RELATIONSHIPS
PART 1

ABE 72
Irrigation and Drainage
Engineering I
 SOIL
 a storehouse of
nutrients

 a habitat for soil

organisms and plant
roots

 a reservoir of water to
meet the
evapotranspiration
demands of plants
The amount of water that the soil can
hold is determined by the physical
and chemical properties of soil.
SOIL PHYSICAL
PROPERTIES
 1. SOIL TEXTURE
 the relative
proportion of
variously sized
groups of mineral
particles in a
specific soil or
horizon

SOIL TEXTURE CLASSIFICATION

Basic
Textural
Classes
(US Dept. of Agr.
Soil survey Manual)
 Significance of soil textures
SAND LOAM SILT-LOAM CLAY

Feel gritty gritty silky cloddy or

plastic
Identification loose cohesive shows finger gives shiny
prints streaks
Internal drainage excessive good fair fair to poor
Plant-available water low medium high high
Drawbar pull light light medium heavy
Tillability easy easy medium difficult
Runoff potential low low-medium medium medium-high

Water detachability high medium medium low

Water erodibility high medium low low
 2. SOIL STRUCTURE

 the
arrangement
and
organization of
soil particles
into natural
units of
aggregation
The Soil System
 Phase Relationships
 In a soil system of total volume VT
and total mass mT:

 VT = Va + Vw + Vs
 Vv = Va + Vw
 mT = ma + mw + ms
 3. POROSITY (n)
 the ratio of the void
volume to the total
soil volume (unitless)
V
V
V


v
a
nw
determines the

amount of pore
V
TV
T
spaces within the soil;
 POROSITY

Sand vs. Clay

 general range -
30 - 60%
 for irrigated soils -
35 - 55%
5.VOID RATIO (e)
Vv n
e 
Vs 1  n

6. DEGREE OF
SATURATION, (DOS)
Vw
DOS  x100
Vv
 7. MOISTURE CONTENT (mc)
 on a dry mass basis
(mcm) - the ratio of mw
the mass of water to mcm  x100
the dry mass of the ms
soil

 on a volume basis
(mcv) - the ratio of V
the volume of water 
m
v
w
x
1
to the total soil VT
volume
Relationship existing among
mcv, mcm , and As

mcv = mcm · As
 8. SOIL DENSITY
 bulk density (ρb)
ms
- the ratio of the
dry mass of the
soil to the total
b 
soil volume VT
 particle density
(ρs) - the ratio ms
of the dry mass
of the soil to the s 
volume of soil Vs
particles
 9.APPARENT SPECIFIC
GRAVITY (As)
 ratio of the bulk
density of the soil
with the density of b ms
water As  
 w  wVT
 it is the ratio of the
dry mass of water
with volume equal to
the total soil volume
 10.REAL SPECIFIC
GRAVITY (Rs)
 ratio of the particle
density of the soil with
s ms
the density of water Rs  
 w  wVs
 it is the ratio of the dry
mass of the soil
particles to the mass of soil with low
water having the same organic matter
=2.65
volume as these
particles irrigated soil with
high OM
=1.5 - 2.0
Relationship existing among
n, Rs , and As

As = Rs (1-n)
 11.DEPTH OF WATER
a. present in the soil (dw) - the
equivalent depth of water in the soil at a
given condition

dw = mcv x D
dw = mcm x As x D

where D - depth of crop root zone or depth or

height of soil column under consideration
 11. DEPTH OF WATER
b. needed (dwn) - to increase the
moisture content from an initial value
(mci) to a final value (mcf)

dwn = (mcvf – mcvi) x D

dwn = (mcmf – mcmi) x As x D
 12. VOLUME OF
IRRIGATION WATER (Viw)
 volume of water to be applied to increase
the soil moisture content from an initial to
a final value

Viw = dwn x A

where: A - area of the land in consideration

 SAMPLE PROBLEM
A sharp-edged cylinder 7.5 cm in diameter is
carefully driven into the soil so that
negligible compaction occurs. A 12-cm
column of soil is obtained. The fresh and
dry masses of soil sample are 910.6 g and
736.3 g, respectively. Assume a particle
density of 2.6 g/cc. Determine As, n, mcm,
mcv and dw.
 13. INFILTRATION RATE
the time rate at which the water will
percolate into the soil and can be
expressed in terms of the following
equations:
Lewis-Kostiakov
Horton
Philip
Lewis-Kostiakov


i  ct
 1
f  ct
Horton

i f t
 f0  fc 
1  e 
 kt
c
k

f  f c   f o  f c e  kt
Philip
1
i  st 2
 At
1
2
st
f  A
2
 14. INTAKE RATE
 the rate of infiltration from a furrow into
the soil

15. PERMEABILITY
 velocity of flow caused by a unit hydraulic
gradient in which the driving force is 1 kg
per kg of water
infiltration vs. permeability