[en] Preferential flow in soils can manifest itself in several ways. To illustrate this, we analyzed solute transport during a step tracer experiment in two soils expected to differ in their governing transport processes: a loamy sand and a silty soil. By combining electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), time domain reflectometry, and effluent measurements, we observed different preferential flow phenomena. The transport process was characterized using voxel- and column-scale effective convective–dispersive equation (CDE) parameters, local velocities, and leaching surfaces. At the column scale, transport in the loamy sand was dominated by a homogenous convective–dispersive transport behavior, but at the scale of the voxel, preferential transport was observed. Transport in the silty soil was considerably more heterogeneous. Preferential flow was identified using ERT, voxel- and column-scale effective CDE parameters, local velocities, and leaching surfaces. In these soils, a clear influence of soil layering on solute transport was observed.
Research center :
Agrosphere (IBG-1)
Disciplines :
Earth sciences & physical geography
Author, co-author :
Garré, Sarah ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech
Koestel, Johannes
Günther, Thomas
Javaux, Mathieu
Vanderborght, Jan
Vereecken, Harry
Language :
English
Title :
Comparison of Heterogeneous Transport Processes Observed with Electrical Resistivity Tomography in Two Soils
Publication date :
May 2010
Journal title :
Vadose Zone Journal
ISSN :
1539-1663
Publisher :
Soil Science Society of America, United States
Special issue title :
preferential flow
Volume :
9
Issue :
2
Pages :
336-349
Peer reviewed :
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Funders :
INVEST (Virtual Institute for Inverse Modelling of Terrestrial Systems)
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