SST3005

Fundamentals of Soil
Science
Adibah Mohd. Amin, Ph.D
Department of Land Management
Faculty of Agriculture
adibahamin@upm.edu.my
 Lecture 7

Soil Physical Property: Soil Water

- Part 1

Fundamentals of Soil Science (SST3005) 2

 Soil Water - Part 1

• Soil Water Classification

• Water Movement

Fundamentals of Soil Science (SST3005) 3

 Forces on Soil Water 
1.Adhesion: The attraction of soil water to soil particles. 

2.Cohesion: The attraction of water molecules to other

water molecules. 

3.Capillarity: A capillary is a very thin tube in which a

liquid can move against the force of gravity. The narrower
the tube the higher the liquid rises due to the forces of
adhesion and cohesion. 
 Soil Water Classification

• 0 to -0.3 bar = Gravitational

• -0.3 to -15 bar = Field Capacity & wilt pt.
• -15 to -100 bar = stages of air dry
• -10,000 bar = oven dry

O bar -0.33 -15 -100 -10000

AWC

Saturated Field Cap Wilt point air dry oven dry

Fundamentals of Soil Science (SST3005) 5

Fundamentals of Soil Science (SST3005) 6
 Field capacity

• Field Capacity is the amount of soil moisture or water

content held in the soil after excess water has drained
away and the rate of downward movement has
decreased.
• This usually takes place 2–3 days after rain or irrigation in
pervious soils of uniform structure and texture.
• The physical definition of field capacity is the bulk water
content retained in soil at −33 J/kg (or −0.33 bar) of
hydraulic head or suction pressure.
 Water present in soil is following type:

• (a) Gravitational water

• (b) Hygroscopic water
• (c) Chemically
combined water
• (d) Capillary water
 Water present in soil is following type:

• (a) Gravitational water: Form of water, which reaches at the soil water
table due to the gravitational force after the rainfall. This form is not
available to plants but available by mechanical methods or by tube well
irrigation.
• (b) Hygroscopic water: Thin film of water is tightly held by the soil
particles is called hygroscopic water. This water is also not available to
the plants. Gravity is always acting to pull water down through the soil
profile. However, the force of gravity is counteracted by forces of
attraction between water molecules and soil particles and by the
attraction of water molecules to each other.
• (c) Chemically combined water: The amount of water present in the
chemical compounds, which are present in the particles of soil. This is
not available to the plants.
• (d) Capillary water: Water exists between soil particles in small
capillary pores is called Capillary water. It is the most common
available form of water for absorption.
Water moves from areas of high potential
(wet soil : -2 or -4) to areas of low
potential (dry soil -8)

-.4
-3
-7

-8
-2
Root Soil
Soil

Fundamentals of Soil Science (SST3005) 10

 Soil Water – Part 2

• Water Movement
• Hydrologic Cycle
• Water Calculations

Fundamentals of Soil Science (SST3005) 11

 Water Movement

Water

Loam

Sand
Fundamentals of Soil Science (SST3005) 12
 Hydrologic Cycle
• Evaporation
• Transpiration

Fundamentals of Soil Science (SST3005) 13

 Evaporation

• Water is heated by the sun

• Surface molecules become
sufficiently energized to
break free of the attractive
force binding them together
• Water molecules evaporate
and rise as invisible vapor
into the atmosphere
Fundamentals of Soil Science (SST3005) 14
 Transpiration

• Water vapor emitted from

plant leaves
• Actively growing plants
transpire 5 to 10 times as
much water as they can hold
at once
• These water particles then
collect and form clouds

Fundamentals of Soil Science (SST3005) 15

 Water Balance

Evapotranspiration
Potential ET
Water amount

Soil moisture Actual ET

utilization
Recharge Runoff Recharge
Precipitation
Ap May June July Aug. Sept Oct
ET > Precip = Soil moisture utilization
Precip > ET = Recharge, surplus, and runoff

Fundamentals of Soil Science (SST3005) 16

 Soil Water and
Plant Use

17

Fundamentals of Soil Science (SST3005)

 Calculating Soil Moisture

• Gravimetric
• The mass of water in a given
mass of soil (kg of water per
kg of soil).
• Pw = Percent water by weight

Pw = (weight of wet soil – weight of oven dry soil) X 100

weight of oven dry soil
Fundamentals of Soil Science (SST3005) 18
 Calculating Soil Moisture

• Volumetric
• The volume of water in a given
volume of soil (m3 of water per m3
of soil)

• Pv = Percent volumetric
• P = P X Bulk density
v w

Fundamentals of Soil Science (SST3005) 19

 Calculating Soil Moisture

• cm of water per depth of soil

• cm = volume water * depth of

soil
• Volume water= cm of
water/depth of soil

Fundamentals of Soil Science (SST3005) 20

 What determines Plant Available
Water Capacity (AWC)
• Rooting depth a) type of plants, b) growing
stage
• Depth of root limiting layers
• Infiltration vs. runoff (more water entering
soil, more will be stored )
• Amount of coarse fragments (gravel)
• Soil Texture - size and amount of pores silt
loam has greatest AWC, followed by loam,
clay loam, silty clay loam
Fundamentals of Soil Science (SST3005) 21
Soil Water Classification

Fundamentals of Soil Science (SST3005) 22

 AWC by Texture
• Texture Available Water Capacity in cm/m of Soil
Depth
• Coarse Sands 2.07 – 6.23
• Fine Sands 6.23 – 8.30
• Loamy Sand 8.80 – 9.96
• Sandy Loams 10.38 – 11.62
• Fine Sandy Loam 12.45 – 16.60
• Silt Loams 16.60 – 20.75
• Silty Clay Loams 14.94 – 16.60
• Silty Clay 12.45 – 14.11
• Clay 9.60 – 12.45

Fundamentals of Soil Science (SST3005) 23

 AWC = FC - WP
-0.33 -( - 15)

% water by vol at Field Capacity = %FC

%water by vol at Wilt Point = % WP
% FC - % WP = % AWC

55-30 = 25%

( % water x cm soil = cm water)

For 1 m of soil 25% AWC means that .25 x 100 cm.

= 25 cm of water stored in 1 m of soil.

= 25 cm of water available/ 1 m
1 m. 24

Fundamentals of Soil Science (SST3005)

Depth
wz =  cm of water in a given depth zone of soil
 
            To convert:                   wz = wv * depth
 
            For example, how much water is in the top 15 cm of soil
that has a volumetric water concentration of 0.2 cm 3/cm3?
 
            Wz = 0.2 cm water/cm soil * 15 cm soil = 3 cm water/cm soil
3
  3
  3
  2
 

 
                        = 3 cm water depth per unit area of soil
 Sample Problem: Gravimetric determination of soil water

• Wt. cylinder of oven dry soil = 240g

• wt. cylinder of soil at field capacity =350g
• Wt. cylinder of soil at wilt point = 300
• Wt. cylinder of soil on June 1 = 320
• volume cylinder = 200 cc
• BD = 240/200 = 1.2
• % water by wt. at FC =
• % water by vol at FC =
• %water by wt. X BD =
• % water by vol at WP =

Fundamentals of Soil Science (SST3005) 26

 Rainfall Infiltration

• How deep will a 2.5 cm rainfall

infiltrate the soil on June 1.
• Soil will be wet to field capacity
than water moves deeper.
• water by vol x soil depth = cm of
water (infiltration) OR
• Rearrange:
• Soil depth = cm of water
(infiltration) / water by vol OR
• Centimeters of soil = amount of
water (infiltration) / water by vol
*Water by volume = volumetric water
concentration
Fundamentals of Soil Science (SST3005) 27
• water by vol between June 1 & and FC = 350-
320/200=0.15
• Or 2.5/0.15 = 16.675 cm of soil is depth of wetting
 Water Potential

• Tension = - pressure
• Soil water potential = amount of work that
must be done per unit quantity of water in
order to transport a quantity of water
from a pool of pure water to the soil water.

Fundamentals of Soil Science (SST3005) 29

 Soil Water- Soil Moisture

• Water has energy - substances tend to

change from a state of high energy to
states of low energy

Soil water potential - water is held in soil by

“tension” or attraction of water molecules to
solid surfaces and to other water molecules

Fundamentals of Soil Science (SST3005) 30

 Soil water potential

• Total soil water potential = Matric potential

+ gravitational potential + Osmotic (salts)
• As the soil dries the matric potential
decreases or a larger negative number
00 -5 -8 -10 -15 -55
sat. wet------------>dry-------------->very dry

Fundamentals of Soil Science (SST3005) 31

Water tension (+) or Potential (-)

Fundamentals of Soil Science (SST3005) 32

Fundamentals of Soil Science (SST3005) 33