• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.235-241
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• 2016

The soil does not only serve as a medium for plant growth but also for engineering construction purposes. It is very weak in tension, very strong in compression and fails only by shearing. The behaviour of the soil under any form of loading and the interactions of the earth materials during and after any engineering construction work has a major influence on the success, economy and the safety of the work. Soils and their management have therefore become a broad social concern. A limitless variety of soil materials are encountered in both agronomy and engineering problems, varying from hard, dense, large pieces of rock through gravel, sand, silt and clay to organic deposits of soft compressible peat. All these materials may occur over a range of physical properties, such as water contents, texture, bulk density and strength of soils. Therefore, to deal properly with soils and soil materials in any case requires knowledge and understanding of these physical properties. The desired value of bulk density varies with the degree of stability required in construction. Bulk density is also used as an indicator of problems of root penetration,soil aeration and also water infiltration. This property is also used in foundation engineering problems. While not conforming to standard test procedures, this work attempts to add to the basic information on such important soil parameters as water content, bulk density.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.39-46
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• 2014

Hydraulic conductivity is an important parameter, representing permeable property of the groundwater in aquifers, in the issues of groundwater development, groundwater contamination, and groundwater flow, etc. We estimated a relationship between hydraulic conductivity and electrical properties (formation factor, chargeability, and time constant) of silty sand in the laboratory. For this study, we conducted grain size analysis, constant head permeameter test, and measured electrical resistivity and spectral induced polarization of silty sand samples collected from the riverside alluvium of the Nakdong River in Nogok-ri area, Dasan-myeon, Goryeong-gun in Gyeongbook Province, Korea. In the laboratory test, we used soil samples of approximately uniform porosity with 0.5% error range, and kept the electrical resistivity of pore water with 100 ohm-m. As a result, the relationship between effective particle size and hydraulic conductivity agrees fairly well with the existing empirical formulas. Hydraulic conductivity was correlated with formation factor, chargeability, and time constant: hydraulic conductivity increased with increasing formation factor and time constant as well as with decreasing chargeability.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.699-708
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• 1997

The effective unsaturated hydraulic conductivity in stratified soils is evaluated using a three-dimensional stochastic approach. Because of the disparity of the correlation scales in a stratified soil, the general stochastic equations are simplified. This allows analytical evaluation of generic expressions for the effective hydraulic conductivities. Simple asymptotic expressions, valid at particular ranges(wetting front, drying condition, wetting condition) of the mean flow characteristics, are also derived. An example of applying the derived theoretical result to a imaginaryl clay soil is presented. It reveals found that the effective unsaturated hydraulic conductivity showed large-scale hysteresis. Such large-scale hysteresis was produced by the spatial variability of hydraulic soil properties rather than hysteresis of the local parameters. In addition the results show that the effective hydraulic conductivities were larger in the case of accommodating heterogeneity of soil preperties rather than neglecting heterogeneity of soil properties.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.415-423
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• 2010

Pore network models are useful tools to investigate soil pore geometry. These models provide quantitative information of pore geometry from 3D images. This study presents a pore network model to quantify pore structure and hydraulic characteristics. The objectives of this work were to apply the pore network model to characterize pore structure from large images to quantify pore structure, calculate water retention and hydraulic conductivity properties from a three dimensional soil image, and to combine measured hydraulic properties from experiments with calculated hydraulic properties from image. Soil samples were taken from a site located at the Baltimore science center, which is located inside of the city. Undisturbed columns were taken from the site and scanned with a computer tomographer at resolutions of 22 ${\mu}m$. Pore networks were extracted by medial-axis transformation and were used to measure pore geometry from one of the scanned samples. Water retention and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity values were calculated from the soil image. Properties of soil bulk density, water retention and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity were measured from three replicates of scanned soil samples. 3D image analysis provided accurate detailed pore properties such as individual pore volumes, pore length, and tortuosity of all pores. These data made possible to calculate accurate estimations of water retention and hydraulic conductivity. Combination of the calculated and measured hydraulic properties gave more accurate information on pore sizes over wider range than measured or calculated data alone. We could conclude that the hydraulic property computed from soil images and laboratory measurements can describe a full structure of intra- and inter-aggregate pores in soil.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.655-661
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• 2016

Relationships between saturated conductivity (Ks) and separate contents were evaluated from 44 soil series of arable lands: 18 for paddy fields and 26 for upland crop fields. Saturated hydraulic conductivities of A, B, and C horizons were determined with tension infiltrometer and Guelph permeameter in situ. Sand, silt, clay, and organic matter content of each horizon were analyzed. Based on correlation analysis, sand separate had a positive relationship with Ks for both paddy (r=0.27, p=0.017) and upland fields (r=0.24. p=0.030). Clay content had a negative relationship with Ks for paddy soils (r=-0.32, p=0.005) while significant correlation between them was not found for upland crop fields (r=-0.20, p=0.07). Organic matter content showed a positive relationship with Ks only for upland crop fields (r=0.33, p=0.002). Due to low correlation coefficients between separate contents and Ks, performance of pedotransfer functions was not enough to estimate Ks. It implies that hydraulic properties of arable lands were affected by other factors rather than particle characteristics. Platy structure and plow pan were suggested to limit Ks of paddy fields. Soil compaction and diversity of parent materials were proposed to influence Ks of upland crop fields. It suggests that genetic processes and artificial managements should be included in pedotransfer functions to estimate hydraulic properties appropriately.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.66-70
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• 2014

Bed-soils can be used to help plants to overcome unfavorable conditions of soils, especially hydraulic properties of soils. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of organic and inorganic raw materials on saturated hydraulic conductivity ($K_s$) of bed-soils. Perlite and bottom ash, which are inorganic materials, increased more $K_s$ of bed-soils than coco peat, an organic material. However, vermiculite, an inorganic material, increased less than coco peat. Saturated hydraulic conductivity of bed-soil mixed with fine vermiculite ($0.14{\pm}0.02mh^{-1}$) was much lower than one containing coarse vermiculite ($0.85{\pm}0.21mh^{-1}$). Such effect was more apparent when pressure was added on bed-soils containing fine vermiculite ($0.07{\pm}0.01mh^{-1}$), probably reflecting the decrease in pore size with the expansion of vermiculite wetted. Compacting decreased more $K_s$ in the bed-soils containing coco peat or vermiculite than other mixtures. Those results suggest that perlite and bottom ash in bed-soils play an important role in improving saturated hydraulic conductivity but vermiculite in bed-soils may suppress the improvement of saturated hydraulic conductivity with the decrease of its size and with the increase of compacting pressure.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.151-161
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• 2009

Configuration of soil hydraulic property is an essential component to understand the hydrological processes at the hillslope scale. In this study, we investigated temporal variations in pore development and soil hydraulic properties during the period from March to October in 2008. Characteristics for macropore flow and hydraulic conductivity were measured at two hillslopes: one is the hillslope located at the Buprunsa in Sulmachun watershed, and the other is the hillslope located in Gwangneung Research Forest. Vertical fluxes through macropore were measured using a tension infiltrometer at the depth of surface. The saturated hydraulic conductivities in March, June, July and September were relatively high compared to those in May and October. Temporal variations in several soil hydraulic features could be explained by the differences in vegetation activity and soil moisture content determined by antecedent precipitation. Particularly, the features of macropores had a substantial impact on hydraulic conductivity in the forest hillslope. The temporal nonuniformity of the soil hydraulic properties observed in this study manifests the dynamic features of hydrological processes in the hillslope scale and the experimental results will be useful to understand the internal hydrological processes in the mountainous hillslope.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.483-498
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• 2015

This article describes a new in-situ load test called the Hydraulic Cylinder Test (HCT) and its application to determine the geotechnical properties of soil-rock mixtures. The main advantages of the test are its easy implementation, speed of execution and low-cost. This article provides a detailed description of the equipment and the test procedure, and examines a case study of its application to determine the geotechnical properties of an earth-filled dam for a tailings pond. The containment dams of the ponds are made from blocks of gypsum and marl, obtained from the excavation of the ponds, mixed in a matrix of sands and clays. The size of the rocks varies between 1 and 30 cm. The HCT is particularly useful for determining the geotechnical properties of this type of soil-rock mixture. Nine HCTs were carried out to determine its strength (c, ${\phi}$) and deformation (B, G) properties. The results obtained were validated using the Bim strength criterion, recently proposed, and some pressure meter tests carried out beforehand. The properties obtained are used to analyze the stability of the dam using computer simulations and a modification to its design is proposed.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.29-35
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• 1999

Soil structure and organic matter have been known to strongly affect water flow and solute transport, yet little information is available concerning soil hydraulic properties related to soil physical and chemical properties in the forest site. The purpose of this study was to quantify the spatial variability and spatial correlation of the measured parameter values from the plots established with the rainfall simulator on Japanese larch(Larix leptolepis) dominated site in Kwangju. Kyunggi-Do. Measurement of soil water flux and retention were made with the inherent soil texture, soil structure, and organic matter. The method was based on the observation that when water was applied at a constant rate to the soil surface on each plot. The method was simple to apply and consists of following steps: (i) Wet the soil from a rainfall simulator with several known discharge rates on a relatively leveled soil surface with and without organic matter. (ii) Once the borders of the ponded zone were steady, saturated hydraulic conductivity( $K_{s}$) and the matric flux function(F) was evaluated from a regression of flux vs. the reciprocal of the ponded area. A conductivity of the form $K_{i+}$$_1$ $_{c}$= $K_{i}$( $_{c}$) [1-d /dz] where flux continuity implies. For this, continuity of matric potential at the interface at all times are as follows: $_1$( $Z_{c}$) = $_2$( $Z_{c}$) = $_{c}$ for steady state intake from water ponded on the soil surface. Results of this investigation showed the importance of understanding spatial variability in wide differences of water retention and saturated hydraulic conductivity with respect to pore geometry and organic matter contents which influenced the water flux throughout the soil profile.l profile.ile.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.61 no.6
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• pp.1-8
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• 2019

Carbon dioxide is one of the major driving forces causing climate changes, and many countries have been trying to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from various sources. Soil stores more carbon dioxide(two to three times) amounts than atmosphere indicating that soil organic carbon emission management are a pivotal issue. In this study, we developed a Soil Organic Carbon(SOC) storage estimation model to predict SOC storage amounts in soils. Also, SOC storage values were assessed based on the carbon emission price provided from Republic Of Korea(ROK). Here, the SOC model calculated the soil hydraulic properties based on the soil physical and chemical information. Base on the calculated the soil hydraulic properties and the soil physical chemical information, SOC storage amounts were estimated. In validation, the estimated SOC storage amounts were 486,696 tons($3.526kg/m^2$) in Jindo-gun and shown similarly compared to the previous literature review. These results supported the robustness of our SOC model in estimating SOC storage amounts. The total SOC storage amount in ROK was 305 Mt, and the SOC amount at Gyeongsangbuk-do were relatively higher than other regions. But the SOC storage amount(per unit) was highest in Jeju island indicating that volcanic ashes might influence on the relatively higher SOC amount. Based on these results, the SOC storage value was shown as 8.4 trillion won in ROK. Even though our SOC model was not fully validated due to lacks of measured SOC data, our approach can be useful for policy-makers in reducing soil organic carbon emission from soils against climate changes.