Infiltration: Groundwater Hydrology

Groundwater Hydrology
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Infiltration
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 Two zones can be distinguished in which water occurs in the

ground:
 the saturated zone
 the unsaturated zone
 Both sources are important for the storage of water
 Infiltration: liquid intake by porous media (water entering the

ground)
 Percolation: downward transport of water in the unsaturated zone.

Controlled by gravity
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 Phreatic surface or watertable: Hydraulic grade line for the

groundwater
 Capillary rise: Upward movement of water through the

unsaturated zone, due to surface tension of the water
 Groundwater flow: movement of water through saturated

porous media
 Seepage: outflow from the groundwater into the surface

(exfiltration)
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The type of openings (voids or pores) in which groundwater occurs is

an important property of the subsurface formation. Three types are
generally distinguished:
1. Pores
2. Fractures, crevices or joints

 3. Caverns or solution channels
Porosity (n)
Vp = Volume of the pores
V = total volume of soil

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 Specific Yield: part of the water that can drain from a given
volume of soil
 Specific Retention: volume of water that is captured (retained)

by a given volume of soil
 Specific retention of small particles (silt, clay) is greater than that of
larger soil particles (gravel or sand)
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Unsaturated Zone
Infiltration
 Infiltration of water in the soil is an important component of the

hydrological cycle as it determines the part of the precipitation
that runs off overland into the river contributing to the peak
discharge.
 The maximum rate at which a given soil in a given condition can

absorb water is known as the infiltration capacity (f).
 A reduction of the flood hazard may be obtained through an
increase of the infiltration capacity.
 most of man's activities decrease the infiltration capacity
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Unsaturated Zone
Infiltration capacity is related to:

 Flooding/run-off
 Erosion
 Soil moisture deficit
 Groundwater storage/depletion
 Evapotranspiration
 Crop yield
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Factors affecting Infiltration
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 Soil Characteristics
 Vegetative Cover
 Urban areas
 Depth of surface detention
 Entrapped air in soil

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 Turbidity of water
 Compaction of soil
 Other reasons why the infiltration capacity reduces

over time are:
 the closing of the surface by the falling raindrops;
 swelling of clay and humus particles;
 enclosure of air bubbles in the pores.
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Measuring Infiltration
 Measurements of infiltration capacity should be carried out

under field conditions, because the process is affected by the
natural situation of soil structure, moisture content and plant
cover.
 infiltrometer
 sprinkling test.
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Infiltrometers
 Usually consist of a single or double ring which are driven into the ground to a
depth of a few centimeters.
 Water is applied from a graduated burette and maintained at a constant head

over the soil surface.
 Readings of the water level in the burette are taken at successive time intervals.
 The water level in the concentric or double ring infiltrometer is maintained in both
rings at the same level, but measurements are only taken on the inner ring.
 The outer ring serves to reduce the disturbing boundary effects of lateral flow.
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Sprinkling test:
 carried out on a well-defined plot of a few tens of square meters in size.
 Sprinklers are used simulating a known intensity of rainfall i which is greater than
the infiltration capacity (i > f)
 The plot is slightly sloping and the water that runs off over the surface is collected in
a gutter and continuously measured
 After a long time the surface runoff becomes approximately constant, indicating that
infiltration capacity approaches a constant value. The sprinkling is then terminated
and the runoff monitored until it has ceased.
 Several methods described in various textbooks are available to analyze the results
of sprinkling tests
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Unsaturated zone
Soil Moisture
 The moisture content in the unsaturated zone varies with the

depth and with time.
 Max moisture content = water table
 Ground surface = lowest moisture content
 The porosity of the soil is usually not constant with the depth.
 In agricultural land the top layer has often a high porosity due to
tillage, although at plough depth a dense layer may have formed.
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Soil Moisture
 The pressure of water in the soil is
expressed with respect to
atmospheric pressure.
 Watertable is defined as P =
atmospheric
 positive below
 negative above the phreatic surface
 The negative pressure in the

unsaturated zone results from the
attraction of water by the soil matrix
(Matric Pressure)
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Soil Moisture
 The matric pressure varies from
0 to 10-7 mbar (1 mbar = 1 cm
water column = 1hPa)
 Matric pressure is usually

expressed as the negative
logarithm of the Pressure (pF =
-log(F)
 The relation between the

moisture content and the water
pressure is known as the soil
moisture characteristic or pF-
curve
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Soil Moisture
 Important conditions in the unsaturated zone are the

 wilting point: to a minimum soil moisture content for which the
plant is no longer capable of taking up the soil moisture and dies
 The corresponding water pressure is about -16 bar = -16,000 hPa! (pF
4.2).
 the field capacity: refers to the soil moisture situation a few days
after irrigation or heavy rainfall, when excess water in the
unsaturated zone has percolated.
 Field capacity is often defined to correspond to a pressure of -100 hPa
(pF 2), but also larger pF values are used (pF 2.3 or even pF 2.7).
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Available Moisture:
Soil Moisture
For loam, the moisture content that is retained
after irrigation (field capacity) equals 27.5%
In the absence of rainfall or irrigation the crop will

take up water from the root zone until the wilting
point situation is reached
the moisture content for loam has then reduced to

6.5%, corresponding to pF = 4.2.
The amount of water that is available for the crop

in a root zone with a thickness of for example 60
cm is then computed as 60 x (0.275 - 0.065) =
12.6 cm or 126 mm.
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Soil Moisture
 The amount of water that may be extracted from the root zone
before the crop shows a significant reduction in yield is known
as the Readily Available Moisture (RAM)
 Readily Available Moisture as half the Available Moisture
 For the example discussed above RAM = 63 mm.
 Given an evapotranspiration rate of, e.g. 6 mm/d, the irrigation

interval should, in the absence of rainfall, not be longer than 10
days in order to avoid yield reduction due to water stress in the
root zone.
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Unsaturated zone
Infiltration Index
 Constant infiltration is called

infiltration index
 This occurs after a long period of

time once the soil becomes wet
 For a given area the Hyteograph

and Infiltration curves are
combined
 Issues arise when rainfall

fluctuates between below or
above the infiltration rate
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Unsaturated zone
 Infiltration indices are used to
simplify the calculations by
assuming constant infiltration
(average infiltration for the
area)
 This condition is true if soil is

wet before a rain event
 Used to study flooding
conditions on wet soil
 Φ-Index: average rainfall

intensity above which rainfall
volume is equal to run-off
volume
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Unsaturated zone
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Examples
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Examples
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Examples
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Examples
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Unsaturated zone
Horton’s Equation of Infiltration
 Most used expression for infiltration
 The parameters f c and k are dependent on soil type and

vegetation, and have to be determined with field experiments.
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Horton’s Infiltration
 Due to the large under-pressure of the
soil water in a dry soil, initial infiltration
rates into a dry soil are larger than for a
wet soil. Hence, f0 depends on the initial
'dryness' of the soil
 The curves have been computed with k

= 0.2 hr -1 , fc = 5 mm/hr, fo = 15 mm/hr
for wet and fo = 25 mm/hr for dry soil.
 The formula applies for the situation of

ponded infiltration, i.e. there is water
standing on the surface, for instance
when using infiltrometer rings (see
below).
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 The equation for cumulative infiltration is
found by integrating the equation from time to
to t which gives
 Application of this equation to the infiltration

capacity curve for dry soil in the above figure
yields the cumulative infiltration curve
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 The actual infiltration rate f is, of course,

the minimum of rainfall intensity i and
infiltration capacity fp , or f = min(i, fp).
 Knowledge of the infiltration parameters

is of importance in surface irrigation,
erosion control and several specific
studies in the field of hydrology.
 The infiltration characteristics show a

large spacial variability.
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Horton’s Infiltration Example
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z Groundwater
Hydrology
Saturated Zone

Infiltration: Groundwater Hydrology

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Groundwater Hydrology

 Two zones can be distinguished in which water occurs in the

 Both sources are important for the storage of water

 Infiltration: liquid intake by porous media (water entering the

 Percolation: downward transport of water in the unsaturated zone.

 Phreatic surface or watertable: Hydraulic grade line for the

 Capillary rise: Upward movement of water through the

 Groundwater flow: movement of water through saturated

 Seepage: outflow from the groundwater into the surface

The type of openings (voids or pores) in which groundwater occurs is

2. Fractures, crevices or joints

Vp = Volume of the pores

V = total volume of soil

 Specific Retention: volume of water that is captured (retained)

 Infiltration of water in the soil is an important component of the

 The maximum rate at which a given soil in a given condition can

Infiltration capacity is related to:

 Depth of surface detention

 Entrapped air in soil

 Other reasons why the infiltration capacity reduces

 Measurements of infiltration capacity should be carried out

 Water is applied from a graduated burette and maintained at a constant head

 carried out on a well-defined plot of a few tens of square meters in size.

 The moisture content in the unsaturated zone varies with the

 negative above the phreatic surface

 The negative pressure in the

 Matric pressure is usually

 The relation between the

 Important conditions in the unsaturated zone are the

In the absence of rainfall or irrigation the crop will

the moisture content for loam has then reduced to

The amount of water that is available for the crop

 Readily Available Moisture as half the Available Moisture

 For the example discussed above RAM = 63 mm.

 Given an evapotranspiration rate of, e.g. 6 mm/d, the irrigation

 Constant infiltration is called

 This occurs after a long period of

 For a given area the Hyteograph

 Issues arise when rainfall

 This condition is true if soil is

 Φ-Index: average rainfall

 Most used expression for infiltration

 The parameters f c and k are dependent on soil type and

 The curves have been computed with k

 The formula applies for the situation of

 Application of this equation to the infiltration

 The actual infiltration rate f is, of course,

 Knowledge of the infiltration parameters

 The infiltration characteristics show a

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