• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.944-958
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• 2011

Soil hydraulic properties such as hydraulic conductivity or water retention which are costly to measure can be indirectly generated by soil pedotransfer function (PTF) using easily obtainable soil data. The field soil structure description which is routinely recorded could also be used in PTF as an input to reduce the uncertainty. The purposes of this study were to use qualitative morphological soil structure descriptions and soil structural index into PTF and to evaluate their contribution in the prediction of soil hydraulic properties. We transformed categorical morphological descriptions of soil structure into quantitative values using categorical principal component analysis (CATPCA). This approach was tested with a large data set from the US National Pedon Characterization database with the aid of a categorical regression tree analysis. Six different PTFs were used to predict the saturated hydraulic conductivity and those results were averaged to quantify the uncertainty. Quantified morphological description was successively used in multiple linear regression approach to predict the averaged ensemble saturated conductivity. The selected stepwise regression model with only the transformed morphological variables and structural index as predictors predicted the $K_{sat}$ with $r^2$ = 0.48 (p = 0.018), indicating the feasibility of CATPCA approach. In a regression tree analysis, soil structure index and soil texture turned out to be important factors in the prediction of the hydraulic properties. Among structural descriptions size class turned out to be an important grouping parameter in the regression tree. Bulk density, clay content, W33 and structural index explained clusters selected by a two step clustering technique, implying the morphologically described soil structural features are closely related to soil physical as well as hydraulic properties. Although this study provided relatively new method which related soil structure description to soil structure index, the same approach should be tested using a datasets containing the actual measurement of hydraulic properties. More insight on the predictive power of soil structure index to estimate hydraulic properties would be achieved by considering measured the saturated hydraulic conductivity and the soil water retention.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.27-34
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• 2022

Since water flow in the ground depends on the pore structure composed of soil grains, equations to predict the hydraulic properties based on the grain size have low accuracy. This paper presents a methodology to compute constriction-pore size distribution by Silveria's method and estimate saturated and unsaturated hydraulic properties of soils. Well-graded soil shows a uni-modal pore size distribution, and poor-graded soil does a bimodal distribution. Among theoretical models for saturated hydraulic conductivity using pore size distribution, Marshall model is well-matched with experimental results. Model formulas for soil-water characteristic curves and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity using the pore size distribution are proposed for hydraulic analysis of unsaturated soil. Continuous research is needed to select a model suitable to estimate hydraulic properties by applying the developed model formulas to various soils.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.340-344
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• 2014

Compost and gypsum can be used to ameliorate soil physicochemical properties in reclaimed tidal lands as an organic and inorganic amendment, respectively. To evaluate effects of compost and gypsum on soil water movement and retention as a soil physical property, we measured the soil's saturated hydraulic conductivity and field capacity after treating the soil collected in a reclaimed tidal land with compost and gypsum. Saturated hydraulic conductivity of soil increased when compost was applied at the conventional application rate of $30Mg\;ha^{-1}$. However, the further application of compost insignificantly (P > 0.05) increased saturated hydraulic conductivity. On the other hand, additional gypsum application significantly increased soil saturated hydraulic conductivity while it decreased soil field capacity, implying the possible effect of gypsum on flocculating soil colloidal particles. The results in this study suggested that compost and gypsum can be used to improve hydrological properties of reclaimed tidal lands through increasing soil water retention and movement, respectively.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.343-353
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• 2024

The hydraulic anisotropic behavior of unsaturated soil has not been fully explored in relation to the grain-size distribution. The present study conducted laboratory assessments to examine the hydraulic anisotropy condition of statically compacted specimens in various initial states. The investigation incorporated the concept of hydraulic anisotropy by employing two discrete forms of soil stratification: horizontal-layering (HL) and vertical-layering (VL). The examined soils comprised sandy silt and silty sand, exhibiting either unimodal or bimodal soil-water characteristic curve (SWCC). This study aimed to investigate the potential correlation between the hydraulic anisotropy ratio and soil properties. The present study established a correlation between the hydraulic anisotropy ratio and several soil parameters, including fine content, dry density, plastic limit, and liquid limit. The study results indicate a non-linear relationship between the percentage of fine and dry density in soils with unimodal and bimodal soil-water characteristic curve (SWCC) and hydraulic anisotropy ratio.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.419-429
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• 2020

To investigate the effect of spatial variability on hydraulic properties of unsaturated soils, a numerical model is set up which can simulate seepage process in an unsaturated heterogeneous soil. The unsaturated heterogeneous soil is composed of matrix sand embedded with a small proportion of clay for simulating the heterogeneity. Soil-water characteristic curve and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity curve of the unsaturated soil are expressed by Van Genuchten model. Hydraulic parameters of the matrix sand are considered as random fields. Different autocorrelation lengths (ACLs) of hydraulic parameter of the matrix sand and different proportions of clay are assumed to investigate the influence of spatial variability on the equivalent hydraulic properties of the heterogeneous soil. Four model sizes are used in the numerical experiments to investigate the influence of scale effects and to determine the sizes of representative volume element (RVE) in the numerical simulations. Through a number of Monte Carlo simulations of unsaturated seepage analysis, the means and the coefficients of variations (COVs) of the equivalent hydraulic parameters of the heterogeneous soil are calculated. Simulations show that the ACL and model size has little influence on the means of the equivalent hydraulic parameters, but they have a large influence on the COVs of the equivalent hydraulic parameters. The size of an RVE is mainly affected by the ACL and the proportion of heterogeneity. The influence of spatial variability on the hydraulic parameters of the heterogeneous unsaturated soil can be used as a guidance for geotechnical reliability analysis and design related to unsaturated soils.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.42 no.spc
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• pp.8-13
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• 2009

Mathematical models have become increasingly popular in both research and management problems involving flow and transport processes in the subsurface. Rosetta is a program to estimate unsaturated hydraulic properties from surrogate soil data such as soil texture data and bulk density. Models of this type are called pedotransfer functions (PTFs) as an alternative measurements since they translate basic soil data into hydraulic properties. These functions may be either measured directly or estimated indirectly through prediction from more easily measured data based using quasi-empirical models.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 1992.10a
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• pp.61-64
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• 1992

Recently, by the lack of fill material, the dredg and fill(hydraulic fill) method is commonly used in reclamation projects. Hydraulic fill method dredges the soil and send it with water through the transportation pipe to the site. The intial state of the hydraulic fill material is accordingly the mixture of water and soil skeleton which settles with time forming a new soil layer. The properties of new soil layer is governed the size of the soil skeleton, the flow velocity of mixing water, salt concentration, the distance from the discharge pipe outlet, and other dredging conditions when settling process occur. In this study, the effects of gradation of derdged soil on the deposition properties (with emphasis on the optimum spacing of the discharge pipes) was investigated by field test. It was found that the soft fine graind soil was forme at 350m from the discharge pipe outlet when the dredged material was classified as CL, while the soft fine grained soil was not formed even at the distance farther than 400m from the diacharge pipe outlet when the dredged material was classified as SM.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 1999.03a
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• pp.497-504
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• 1999

This study presents the physical and engineering characteristics of soil-bentonite admixed liner in I landfill. Main focus was the hydraulic conductivity of compacted soil-bentonite admixed and mechanisms governing low permeable properties of the admixed liner. Laboratory and field tests such as compaction, hydraulic conductivity, density, water content for the soil-bentonite admixed liner were carried out. Quality control criteria for the best construction of the soil-bentonite admixed liner was suggested through laboratory and field test results.

• Current Research on Agriculture and Life Sciences
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• v.29
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• pp.29-35
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• 2011

The relationship between hydrologic processes and scale is one of the more complex issues in surface water hydrology. Disturbances that change vegetation and/or soil properties have been known to subsequently alter the landscape. The primary objective of this study was to estimate the grain size of soils with different properties from the hydraulic conductivity using pedotransfer functions. The double ring infiltrometer method was used to measure the vertical hydraulic conductivity of three soils under different soil planar surface treatments. Seven selected pedotransfer functions were used to estimate percentile diameters and the reduction in infiltration caused by compaction was misconstrued as caused by changes in percentile diameter. Results showed that compaction on the sandy loamy foot paths reduced the hydraulic conductivity by about 50%. The study showed that perceptual models of infiltration processes and appreciation of scale problems in modeling are far more sophisticated than normally presented in texts. Hydraulic measurement methods are still relevant and will provide significant information of grain size of the soils.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2018

BACKGROUND: Different physical and chemical properties of biochar, which is made out of a variety of biomass materials, can impact water movement through amended soil. The objective of this research was to develop a decision support tool evaluating the impact of the shape and the size distribution of biochar on soil saturated hydraulic conductivity ($K_{sat}$). METHODS AND RESULTS: Plastic beads of different size and morphology were compared with biochar to assess impacts on soil $K_{sat}$. Bead and biochar were added at the rate of 5% (v/w) to coarse sand. The particle size of bead and biochar had an effect on the $K_{sat}$, with larger and smaller particle sizes than the original sand grain (0.5 mm) decreasing the $K_{sat}$ value. The equivalent size bead or biochar to the sand grains had no impact on $K_{sat}$. The amendment shape also influenced soil hydraulic properties, but only when the particle size was between 3-6 mm. Intra-particle porosity had no significant influence on the $K_{sat}$ due to its small pore size and increased tortuosity compared to the inter-particle spaces (macro-porosity). CONCLUSION: The results supported the conclusion that both particle size and shape of the amended biochar impacted the $K_{sat}$ value.