Project Completion Report / OWRT Project No. A-027-ARIZ / Development of a mathematical model of infiltration which includes the effects of raindrop impact / Agreement No. 14-31-0001-3503 / Project Dates: July 1971-December 1972. / The purpose of this investigation was to use an existing mathematical model of infiltration to assist in determining which factors, including raindrop impaction, were responsible for infiltration characteristics of a bare semiarid watershed. The infiltration model developed by Roger Smith was selected as best suited for this investigation. Several laboratory and field rainfall simulator runs were modeled. Good correlation was found between the modeled and experimental results for both the infiltration data and the saturation profiles, for both bare and grass covered plots. For the lab and field experiments a realistic rotating disk rainfall simulator was used. In the field tests bare and grass covered plots were tested. In the lab specially constructed soil boxes were used that permitted measurement of infiltration and saturation profiles with time. Gross changes in saturated hydraulic conductivities due to crusting effects were also measured. Gamma ray attenuation techniques were used to obtain density and soil moisture profiles for the laboratory experiments. It was found that the Smith model can be used to simulate infiltration from different surface conditions as long as there is some method to calibrate the model. Carefully obtained saturated and unsaturated hydraulic properties for the soil types present in the watershed are needed in addition to infiltration data from a realistic rainfall simulator or through hydrograph analysis from unit subwatersheds.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/314467 |
| Date | January 1973 |
| Creators | Cluff, C. B., Evans, D. D., Morse, J. G. |
| Publisher | University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ) |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Source | Water Resources Research Center. The University of Arizona. |
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