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Infiltration and Recharge: Department of Civil Engineering
Infiltration and Recharge: Department of Civil Engineering
Thus the calculation of the actual infiltration rate requires an estimate of the
infiltration capacity.
Horton’s Model (1935) :
It is one of the most widely used empirical models of infiltration capacity :
𝒇 𝒕 = 𝒇𝒄 +(𝒇𝒐 − 𝒇𝒄 )𝒆−𝒌𝒕
𝒇𝒐 = initial infiltration capacity (mm/hour)
𝒇𝒄= infiltration capacity after prolonged wetting (mm/hour)
𝒌 = a constant representing the rate of decreasein in 𝒇 (hour -1).
𝑙𝑜𝑔 𝑓𝑜 − 𝑓𝑐 𝑙𝑜𝑔 𝑓 − 𝑓𝑐
𝑡= −
𝑘 𝑙𝑜𝑔 𝑒 𝑘 𝑙𝑜𝑔 𝑒
• Which is in the form of a straight line y = mx + c , In which;
y = t;
x = log ( f – fc );
m = - 1/k log e
• Plotting t versus (f – fc) in semi-log paper; t to linear scale, and the (f – fc) in the logarithmic
scale, the k value can be determined in the Horton’s equation as the following equation
(Toebes, 1969):
1
𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒 = −
𝑘 log 𝑒
Where slope is the dy or dt over a log cycle.
• The infiltration capacities
can be recalculated after
the determination of the
values of fo , fc , and k
through applying Horton’s
equation and.
• They were plotted on
charts together with the
field observed data.
70
R2 = 0.997
60
f (infiltration rate (mm/h)
50
Observed
40
Calculated
30
20
10
0
0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0
Time (Hours)
Time (hours) Used Water Infilteration (mm/Hour)
f -fc f
Volume Cumulative Depth of Inf. Cum. Depth f
Start End dt
(Litre) Volume (Litre) (mm) of Inf. (mm)
(Calculated
Observed
)
0 0.017 0.017
fo =
fc =