Pedosphere 18(3): 328--334, 2008
ISSN 1002-0160/CN 32-1315/P
©2008 Soil Science Society of China
Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science Press
An alternative approach for the determination of soil water mobility
M. P. C. ENGLER1, R. CICHOTA2, Q. DE JONG VAN LIER1, E. M. BLOEM3, G. SPAROVEK1 and E. SCHNUG3
1 University of São Paulo, C.P. 9, Piracicaba (SP) 13418-900 (Brazil). E-mail: mpcampos@esalq.usp.br
2 Institute of Natural Resources, Massey University, P.O.Box 11 222, Palmerston North (New Zealand)
3 Institute for Crop and Soil Science, (JKI) Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Bundesallee 50, D-38116 Braunschweig (Germany)
ABSTRACT
      A new laboratory method was proposed to establish an easily performed standard for the determination of mobile soil water close to real conditions during the infiltration and redistribution of water in a soil. It consisted of applying a water volume with a tracer ion on top of an undisturbed ring sample on a pressure plate under a known suction or pressure head. Afterwards, soil water mobility was determined by analyzing the tracer-ion concentration in the soil sample. Soil water mobility showed to be a function of the applied water volume. No relation between soil water mobility and applied pressure head could be established with data from the present experiment. A simple one- or two-parameter equation can be fitted to the experimental data to parameterize soil water mobility as a function of applied solute volume. Sandy soils showed higher mobility than loamy soils at low values of applied solute volumes, and both sandy and loamy soils showed an almost complete mobility at high applied solute volumes.
Key Words:  laboratory method, mobile-immobile water, pressure head, soil texture
Citation: Engler, P. C., Cichota, R., Van, L., Bloem, E. M., Sparovek, G. and Schnug, E. 2008. An alternative approach for the determination of soil water mobility. Pedosphere. 18(3): 328-334.
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