Microgravity Effects on Water Flow and Distribution in Unsaturated Porous media: Analyses of Flight Experiments
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Plants grown in porous media are part of a bioregenerative life support system designed for long‐duration space missions. Reduced gravity conditions of orbiting spacecraft (microgravity) alter several aspects of liquid flow and distribution within partially saturated porous media. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the suitability of conventional capillary flow theory in simulating water distribution in porous media measured in a microgravity environment. Data from experiments aboard the Russian space station Mir and a U.S. space shuttle were simulated by elimination of the gravitational term from the Richards equation. Qualitative comparisons with media hydraulic parameters measured on Earth suggest narrower pore size distributions and inactive or nonparticipating large pores in microgravity. Evidence of accentuated hysteresis, altered soil‐water characteristic, and reduced unsaturated hydraulic conductivity from microgravity simulations may be attributable to a number of proposed secondary mechanisms. These are likely spawned by enhanced and modified paths of interfacial flows and an altered force ratio of capillary to body forces in microgravity.
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Jones and Or (1999) showed that the retention curve has narrower pore-size distributions in microgravity.
“By simulating a wetting and drying cycle using conventional unsaturated flow models adapted to microgravity, Jones and Or (1999) showed that the retention curve has narrower pore-size distributions in microgravity.”
From The Potential for Lunar and Martian Regolith Simulants to Sustain Plant Growth: A Multidisciplinary Overview (2022) · cites this paper as Jones and Or (1999)
Jones and Or (1999) reported a decrease in unsaturated hydraulic conductivities in microgravity.
“The authors also reported a decrease in unsaturated hydraulic conductivities, which can be explained by the modified hydrodynamics in microgravity.”
From The Potential for Lunar and Martian Regolith Simulants to Sustain Plant Growth: A Multidisciplinary Overview (2022) · cites this paper as Jones and Or (1999)
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Duri, L. G., Caporale, A. G., Rouphael, Y., Vingiani, S., Palladino, M., De Pascale, S., & Adamo, P. (2022) · Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences · doi:10.3389/fspas.2021.747821 · Cited by 107 · see citing works
Caporale, A. G., Amato, M., Duri, L. G., Bochicchio, R., De Pascale, S., Simeone, G. D. R., Palladino, M., Pannico, A., Rao, M. A., Rouphael, Y., et al. (2022) · Plants · doi:10.3390/plants11233345 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
- Authors
- Jones, S. B., & Or, D.
- Affiliations
- Utah State University (US)
- Venue
- Water Resources Research
- Publisher
- American Geophysical Union (AGU)
- Published
- 1999-04
- Volume
- 35
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 929-942
- ISSN
- 0043-1397 (ISSN-L)
- 1944-7973
- OpenAlex
- W2048859475
- Cited by
- 71
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 3 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 2 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 19.77
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Water Resources Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Digital Commons - USU (Utah State University) (submittedVersion)
- Infoscience (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) (submittedVersion)
- Infoscience (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Funders
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Rocky Mountain NASA Space Grant Consortium
- Utah Agricultural Experiment Station
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (UAES-324)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Civil and Structural Engineering › Soil and Unsaturated Flow
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Computational Mechanics › Heat and Mass Transfer in Porous Media
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Groundwater flow and contamination studies
- Keywords
- microgravity, unsaturated porous media, water flow, Richards equation, bioregenerative life support, plant growth in space, soil water characteristics, hysteresis, unsaturated hydraulic conductivity, pore size distribution, interfacial flow, spaceflight experiments
- MeSH terms
- Capillary Action, Computer Simulation, Culture Media, Microspheres, Models, Theoretical, Particle Size, Soil, Space Flight, Water, Weightlessness, Porosity, Weightlessness Simulation, Plant Roots, Hydroponics, Space Simulation
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