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Hydrology
Hydrology
Water Cycle:
INFILTRATION
A Report Presentation as a Fulfilment of the Requirements for Hydrology CE-412
Presented to
ENGR. CARL ANTON R. BAYLON
Instructor
Presented by
AYAD, LYKA MAE B.
BALITOS, CARMELA B.
BARASTAS, TRIXIE A.
BERDERA, MICHAEL JERICHO M.
BOJOCAN, DENGIEL M.
BUENAFE, FATIMA S.
TEJERERO, FLORENCE MARTIN O.
BSCE 4A
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CONTENTS PAGE NO
INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................…………..1
INFILTRATION MODELS
REFERENCES ...........................................................................……………………..24
INFILTRATION
INTRODUCTION
DEFINITION OF INFILTRATION
Infiltration is the downward movement of water into the soil. It occurs when precipitation or
surface water penetrates the soil surface. It is commonly used in both hydrology and soil sciences.
The infiltration capacity is defined as the maximum rate of infiltration. It is most often measured in
meters per day but can also be measured in other units of distance over time if necessary. The
infiltration capacity decreases as the soil moisture content of soils surface layers increases. If the
precipitation rate exceeds the infiltration rate, runoff will usually occur unless there is some physical
barrier.
Infiltration is defined as the flow of water from above ground into the subsurface. The topic
of infiltration has received a great deal of attention because of its importance to topics as widely
ranging as irrigation, contaminant transport, groundwater recharge, and ecosystem viability. More
generally, a quantitative understanding of this process is vital to our ability to relate surface and
subsurface processes in describing the hydrologic cycle.
RATE OF INFILTRATION
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Infiltration rate is a measure of the rate at which a particular soil is able to absorb rainfall or
irrigation. The higher the infiltration rate the faster the infiltration. The maximum amount of rainwater
that can enter a soil in a given time is called the soil’s infiltration capacity. When the maximum
infiltration rate is reached, the soil becomes saturated.
Infiltration rate is the velocity or speed at which water enters into the soil. It is usually
measured by the depth (in mm) of the water layer that can enter the soil in one hour. An infiltration
rate of 10 mm/hour means that a water layer of 10 mm on the soil surface will take one hour to
infiltrate. In dry soil, water infiltrates rapidly. This is called the initial infiltration rate. As more water
replaces the air in the pores, the water from the soil surface infiltrates more slowly and eventually
reaches a steady rate. This is called the basic infiltration rate (Table I).
The infiltration rate depends on soil texture (the size of the soil particles) and soil texture
(arrangement of the soil particles) and is a useful way of categorizing soils from an irrigation point of
view. The most common method to measure the infiltrate rate is by a field test using a cylinder or
ring infiltrometer.
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INFILTRATION MEASUREMENT DEVICES
An infiltrometer is a device used to measure the rate of water infiltration into soil or other
porous media. Commonly used infiltrometers are single-ring and double-ring infiltrometers, and also
disc permeameters.
SINGLE-RING INFILTROMETER
Falling head refers to condition where water is supplied in the ring, and the water is allowed
to drop with time. The operator records how much water goes into the soil for a given time period.
The rate of which water goes into the soil is related to the soil's hydraulic conductivity.
DOUBLE-RING INFILTROMETER
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An inner ring is driven into the ground, and a second bigger ring around that to help control
the flow of water through the first ring. Water is supplied either with a constant or falling head
condition, and the operator records how much water infiltrates from the inner ring into the soil over a
given time period. The ASTM standard method specifies inner and outer rings of 30 and 60 cm
diameters, respectively.
DISC PERMEAMETERS
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RELATIONSHIP OF RUNOFF AND INFILTRATION
Runoff and infiltration are two routes water can take in the water cycle after
precipitation. Runoff is water that moves across the surface of the land while
infiltration is water that seeps into the soil. Runoff moves large amount of
water around the surface of the Earth and will eventually end in lakes and
oceans. Runoff occurs when water encounters non-porous surfaces, or ground
which is already saturated with water. This water moves downhill and collects
in ravines and gullies then merges into larger rivers and streams. Runoff can
cause land erosion by stripping away the soil, rocks and nutrients then
depositing them in a different place downstream. This can be harmful to
farmlands, fish, and plants. Runoff occurs after a rain or melting event such as
a monsoon or melting of ice and snow.
Infiltration is the moving of surface water into the soil. Water fills the air space
between particles of soil. The rate of infiltration is how fast the water can seep into the ground. The
rate of infiltration will increase in more permeable soil with little or no slope and with vegetation.
Some examples: granite is impermeable so it has no infiltration. Limestone holds and allows water
to flow through. Sand is very porous and permeable with lots of air space around the grains of sand.
Clay holds water but does not let it flow.
1. PRECIPITATION LEVEL
The greatest factor controlling infiltration is the amount and characteristics (intensity,
duration, etc.) of precipitation that falls as rain or snow. Precipitation that infiltrates into the ground
often seeps into streambeds over an extended period of time, thus a stream will often continue to
flow when it hasn't rained for a long time and where there is no direct runoff from recent
precipitation.
2. SOIL CHARACTERISTICS
The rate of infiltration on the soil surface is largely dependent on the porosity and
permeability of the soil profile. Water infiltrates faster into large pore spaces of coarse sub
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soils. Some soils, such as clays, absorb less water at a slower rate than sandy soils. Soils
absorbing less water result in more runoff overland into streams.
3. SOIL SATURATION
Soil becomes saturated whenever it reaches its infiltration capacity. Infiltration capacity is the
maximum amount of rainwater that can enter a soil at any given time. Once this maximum level is
reached, like a wet sponge, soil already saturated from previous rainfall can't absorb much more ...
thus more rainfall will become surface runoff.
4. LAND COVER
Vegetative cover can either increase or decrease infiltration. Vegetation coverage protects
the soil surface from the impact of raindrops. Therefore, it will take a longer time before raindrops
have direct contact with the soil surface. On the other hand, vegetation root system and organic
matter crumbles soil structure and improves its permeability. In this case, the infiltration rate is
increased. Impervious surfaces, such as parking lots, roads, and developments, act as a "fast
lane" for rainfall - right into storm drains that drain directly into streams.
Infiltration is faster in areas with flat land surfaces compared to steeply-sloped surface where
the water will run off quickly. Steeply-sloped surfaces encourage surface water runoff and in critical
cases leads to erosion. Water falling on steeply-sloped land runs off quicker and infiltrates less than
water falling on flat land.
6. EVAPOTRANSPIRATION
Some infiltration stays near the land surface, which is where plants put down their roots. Plants
need this shallow groundwater to grow, and, by the process of evapotranspiration, water is moved
back into the atmosphere.
INFILTRATION MODELS
The infiltration process was thoroughly studied by Horton in the early 1930’s. Robert E.
Horton was an American civil engineer and soil scientist, considered by many to be the father of
modern hydrology. He studied how it works, how a specific property of soil affects the infiltration rate
and other things related to infiltration process.
Horton defined infiltration capacity as “the maximum rate at which a given soil can absorb
rainfall when the soil is in a specified condition”. Based on observations of infiltration in the field, he
deduced that the decrease in Infiltration capacity over time during an infiltration event was due to
flow restricting changes occurring in a thin layer at the soil surface.
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Horton’s equation is a viable option when measuring ground infiltration rates or volumes. It is
an empirical formula that says that infiltration starts at a constant rate, and is decreasing
exponentially with time. After some time when the soil saturation level reaches a certain value, the
rate of infiltration will level off to the rate.
Eq. 1
Where:
𝒇𝒄 – is the constant or equilibrium infiltration rate after the soil has been
saturated or minimum infiltration rate;
– empirical constant that says something how long it takes for rain to force the soil from its
initial to its final infiltration capacity.
– time
The other method of using Horton’s equation is as below. It can be used to find the total volume of
infiltration, F, after time t.
Eq. 2
SAMPLE PROBLEM
1.) Given an initial capacity 𝑓𝑜 of 2.9 in./hr and a time constant 𝑘 of 0.28 ℎ𝑟−1 derive an infiltration
capacity for those time given versus time curve if the equilibrium capacity 𝑓𝑐 is estimated as 0.50
in./hr. For the first 8 hrs, find the total volume of water infiltrated in inches over the watershed.
Given time:
Time (𝑡)
0 5.00
0.10 6.00
0.25 7.00
0.50 8.00
1.00 9.00
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2.00 10.00
3.00 15.00
4.00 20.00
Required:
Given:
• 𝑓𝑜 = 2.9 𝑖𝑛./ℎ𝑟
• 𝑘 = 0.28 ℎ𝑟−1
• 𝑓𝑐 = 0.50 𝑖𝑛./ℎ𝑟
SOLUTION:
1. Using Horton’s equation, values of infiltration can be computed for various times.
𝒇 = 𝟎. 𝟓𝟎 + (𝟐. 𝟗 − 𝟎. 𝟓𝟎)𝒆−𝟎.𝟐𝟖𝒕
Computations:
𝑓 = 0.50 + ( 2.9 − 0.50) 𝑒 −0.28 (0) 𝑓 = 0.50 + ( 2.9 − 0.50) 𝑒 −0.28 (20)
𝒇 = 𝟐. 𝟗𝟎 𝒊𝒏./𝒉𝒓 𝒇 = 𝟎. 𝟓𝟏 𝒊𝒏./𝒉𝒓
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0.50 2.59 8.00 0.76
1.00 2.31 9.00 0.69
2.00 1.87 10.00 0.65
3.00 1.54 15.00 0.54
4.00 1.28 20.00 0.51
INFILTRATION CURVE
Eq. 2
Substitute:
Computations:
(𝐭 = 𝟖 )
= 4 + 8.5714 (1 − 𝑒−2.24)
9
𝐹(8) = 11.66 in
(𝒕 = 𝟎 )
= 0 + 8.5714 (1 − 𝑒−0)
𝐹(0) = 0
𝑉𝑇 = (8) − (0
𝑉𝑇 =11.66 in
𝑉 = 11.66 − 0
𝑽 𝑻 = 𝟏𝟏 . 𝟔𝟔 𝒊𝒏 Ans.
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Philip’s Equation (1957b)
Philip’s further showed that a truncated form of the previous equation with just
two fitting parameters is sufficient for all practical purposes to describe the time
dependence of cumulative infiltration as,
(𝑡) = 𝑆𝑡1/2 + 𝐴𝑡
where:
S = sorptivity
A terms = transmissivity
𝐾𝜃 = hydraulic conductuvity
t = time
According to Dunin (1976), transmissivity (A) is related to the soil’s saturated hydraulic conductivity
(𝐾𝜃).
Cumulative Infiltration:
Infiltration rate:
The sorptivity (with dimensions 𝐿𝑇−1/2) term reflects the soil’s ability to absorb water by
matric forces during the initial stages of the infiltration process.
For a horizontal column of soil, gravity effects are considered negligible and the
contribution of the term is also negligible. And the equation for horizontal soil column are reduce
to this equation:
(𝑡) = 𝑆𝑡1/2
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Sample Problem:
• A small tube with a cross-sectional area of 40 𝑐𝑚2 is filled with soil and laid
horizontally. The open end of the tube is saturated, and after 15 minutes, 100 𝑐𝑚3 of water
have infiltrated into the tube.
• If the saturated hydraulic conductivity of the soil is 0.4 cm/hr. determine how much
infiltration would have taken place in 30 minutes if the soil column had initially been
placed upright with its upper surface saturated.
o GREEN-AMPT MODEL
William Heber Green and Gustov Adolp Ampt (1911) developed the first physically based model.
This model employs a simple equation for describing and calculating infiltration. Green and Ampt
arrived at their simplified theory of infiltration by considering the wetting front as a precipitous border
between wetted and nonwetted soils.
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This figure shows graphical
representation of the Green-Ampt infiltration model: the wetting front penetrates to a depth L at time
t, separating the saturated soil with hydraulic conductivity K, and moisture content η from the soil
which has moisture content θi below the wetting front. There is ponded water with a depth of h0
(2)
The equation assumes that water will start ponding on the surface from the beginning of a rainfall
event. In many cases, however, there is some period of time prior to ponding when potential
infiltration capacity of the soil is greater than rainfall intensity. During this period all available
precipitation penetrates into the soil until the soil surface becomes saturated. Thus, the infiltration
process falls into two stages: infiltration before ponding and after ponding.
Mein and Larson (1973) modified the Green-Ampt equation for two-stage infiltration by evaluating
the time period prior to ponding (tp) as:
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(3)
(4)
The Green-Ampt equation for cumulative two-stage infiltration after ponding is:
(5)
The above two-stage model developed by Mein and Larson, is a more accurate representation of
the actual infiltration process for rainfall events with delayed rainfall excess.
Green-Ampt Parameters
The Green-Ampt infiltration equation involves three parameters which need to be estimated.
Considering the sensitivity of the Green-Ampt equation, these three can be placed in order of most
to least significant impact on the equation:
1. Hydraulic conductivity, K (cm/hr),
2. Wetting front capillary pressure head, ψ (cm),
3. Change in moisture content, ∆θ, which is a difference between porosity, η, and initial soil
water content, θi.
The effective saturation also can be expressed as the ratio of the available moisture, θi -θr (for
initial condition) to the maximum possible moisture content or effective porosity, θe:
(6)
Green-Ampt Table
It is best to use soil property and Green-Ampt infiltration parameters derived from field and
laboratory measurements of infiltration on the study watershed.Considerable prior research has
been performed to relate soil infiltration parameter values to textural classification. Some highly
relevant references are Rawls and Brakensiek (1983) and (1985), and Rawls et al. (1982) and
(1983). Table 9 summarizes Rawls and Brakensiek soil parameter estimates as a function of United
States Department of Agriculture (USDA) textural classification. It is important to note that the
values listed in this Table were derived from the geometric mean of tests on a large number of soil
samples.
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Sample Problem:
o PONDING TIME
Ponding time is a term used in hydrology for a saturated soil surface (from rain) and occurs
water puddle. When it rains, the water will be puddling if the intensity of the rain exceeds the value
of the infiltration capacity of the soil that receives rain. Ponding time (tp) is the time from the
beginning of rainwater infiltration until surface runoff occurs, starting from the beginning of the rain
occurs until the water begins to puddle on the soil surface. Time before ponding occurs (t<tp), the
intensity of rain is less than the potential rate of soil infiltration and the soil surface in unsaturated
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conditions. Ponding begins to occur when the intensity of rain exceeds the infiltration rate. At this
time (t=tp), the soil surface begins to saturate with water. As the rain continues (t>tp), the soil
saturated zone will deepen and the surface runoff begins to occur from the puddle.
K
t p i(i K
)
*where i = constant precipitation rate.
Note: Green-Ampt Formulas can be used to find the values of ponding time.
Sample Problem:
1. A Silty-Loam soil, 25% effective saturation, rainfall 6 cm/hr intensity. What is the ponding
time?
Given: Solution:
𝜃𝑒 = 0.486 ∆𝜽 = (1 − 𝑆𝑒) 𝜃𝑒 𝝍∆𝜽 = 16.7*0.365
0.65( 6.096)
6.0(6.0−0.65)
tp = 0.123 ℎ𝑟 Ans.
Formula’s:
fp=fc+(fo-fc)e-kt
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fp-fc=(fo-fc) e-kt
ln(fp-fc)=ln(fo-fc) -kt
where,
5 1.75 5
10 3 5
15 3.95 5
25 5.5 10
45 7.25 20
60 8.3 15
75 9.3 15
90 10.2 15
110 11.28 20
130 12.36 20
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Time since Cumulative Time Incremental depth Infiltration
start infiltration interval in interval rate fb
(minute) depth (cm) (minutes) (cm) (cm/h)
5 1.75 5 1.75 21
10 3 5 1.25 15
15 3.95 5 0.95 11.4
25 5.5 10 1.55 9.3
45 7.25 20 1.75 5.25
60 8.3 15 1.05 4.2
75 9.3 15 1 4
18
90 10.2 15 0.9 3.6
110 11.28 20 1.08 3.24
130 12.36 20 1.08 3.24
Time since Cumulative Time Incremental Infiltration
start infiltration interval depth in interval rate fb ln (ft-fc)
(minute) depth (cm) (minutes) (cm) (cm/h)
19
Time since Cumulative Time Incremental Infiltrati
start (mins) infiltration interval depth on rate fb
Time
=B-A depth (minute in interval (cm/h) ln (ft-fc)
(hours)
Ans: Time (cm) s) (cm)
Interval
5 1.75 5 1.75 21 2.877 0.083
10 3 5 1.25 15 2.465 0.167
15 3.95 5 0.95 11.4 2.099 0.250
25 5.5 10 1.55 9.3 1.802 0.417
45 7.25 20 1.75 5.25 0.698 0.750
60 8.3 15 1.05 4.2 -0.041 1.000
75 9.3 15 1 4 -0.274 1.250
90 10.2 15 0.9 3.6 -1.022 1.500
110 11.28 20 1.08 3.24 1.833
130 12.36 20 1.08 3.24 2.167
Chart Title
30 15
20
20 10
10 5
Table 1.
2. Go to ‘INSERT’
3. Then ‘CHARTS’
Time
(hours) ln (ft-fc)
0.083 2.877
0.167 2.465
0.250 2.099
0.417 1.802
0.750 0.698
1.000 -0.041
1.250 -0.274
1.500 21 -1.022
1.833
2.167
ln (ft-fc)
4
3
y = -2.6751x + 2.8868
2 R² = 0.9859
1
0
-1 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
-2
-3
-4
Table 2.
2. Go to ‘INSERT’
3. Then ‘CHARTS’
fp=fc+(fo-fc)e-kt
fp-fc=(fo-fc) e-kt
ln(fp-fc)=ln(fo-fc) -kt
k 2.6751
ln(fo-fc) 2.8868
fo-fc 17.93578821
fo 21.17578821
fp= 3.24+17.94e22-2.6751t
REFERENCES:
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