A new model for predicting the hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated porous media
Abstract
A simple analytic model is proposed which predicts the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity curves by using the moisture content‐capillary head curve and the measured value of the hydraulic conductivity at saturation. It is similar to the Childs and Collis‐George (1950) model but uses a modified assumption concerning the hydraulic conductivity of the pore sequence in order to take into account the effect of the larger pore section. A computational method is derived for the determination of the residual water content and for the extrapolation of the water content‐capillary head curve as measured in a limited range. The proposed model is compared with the existing practical models of Averjanov (1950), Wyllie and Gardner (1958), and Millington and Quirk (1961) on the basis of the measured data of 45 soils. It seems that the new model is in better agreement with observations.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The model implemented the soil hydraulic functions proposed by Van Genuchten and Mualem to describe the soil water retention curve.
“The model implemented the soil hydraulic functions proposed by Van Genuchten and Mualem [46,47] to describe the soil water retention curve using the following formulae, Equations ( 4)-(8):”
From Application of Biochar in Stormwater Treatment: Experimental and Modeling Investigation (2021) · cites this paper as [46]
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Estimating Uncertain Flow and Transport Parameters Using a Sequential Uncertainty Fitting Procedure
Abbaspour, K. C., Johnson, C. A., & van Genuchten, M. T. (2004) · Vadose Zone Journal · doi:10.2136/vzj2004.1340 · Cited by 1,153 · see citing works
Quantification of compaction effects on soil physical properties and crop growth
Lipiec, J., & Hatano, R. (2003) · Geoderma · doi:10.1016/s0016-7061(03)00097-1 · Cited by 551 · see citing works
Guo, B., Zeng, J., & Brusseau, M. L. (2020) · Water Resources Research · doi:10.1029/2019wr026667 · Cited by 224 · see citing works
A root zone modelling approach to estimating groundwater recharge from irrigated areas
Jiménez-Martínez, J., Skaggs, T. H., van Genuchten, M. T., & Candela, L. (2009) · Journal of Hydrology · doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2009.01.002 · Cited by 161 · see citing works
Bandai, T., & Ghezzehei, T. A. (2022) · Hydrology and Earth System Sciences · doi:10.5194/hess-26-4469-2022 · Cited by 111 · see citing works
Wöhling, T., & Vrugt, J. A. (2008) · Water Resources Research · doi:10.1029/2008wr007154 · Cited by 86 · see citing works
Ebel, B. A., Rengers, F. K., & Tucker, G. E. (2016) · Water Resources Research · doi:10.1002/2016wr019110 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
Zeng, J., Brusseau, M. L., & Guo, B. (2021) · Journal of Hydrology · doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2021.127172 · Cited by 62 · see citing works
Biesek, B. J., Szymkiewicz, A., Šimůnek, J., Gumuła-Kawęcka, A., & Jaworska-Szulc, B. (2024) · Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.173252 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Application of Biochar in Stormwater Treatment: Experimental and Modeling Investigation
Hasan, M. S., Vasquez, R., & Geza, M. (2021) · Processes · doi:10.3390/pr9050860 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
“The model implemented the soil hydraulic functions proposed by Van Genuchten and Mualem [46,47] to describe the soil water retention curve using the following formulae, Equations (4)–(8): θ(h) = { θr + θs−θr[ 1+|αh|n ]m } h < 0 (4) θ(h)= θs h ≥ 0 (5) K(h)= KsSe [ 1− ( 1− Se 1 m )m]2 (6) m = 1− 1 n n > 1 (7) Se = θ− θr…”
Method
- Authors
- Mualem, Y.
- Corresponding author
- Mualem, Yechezkel
- Venue
- Water Resources Research
- Publisher
- American Geophysical Union (AGU)
- Published
- 1976-06
- Volume
- 12
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 513-522
- ISSN
- 0043-1397 (ISSN-L)
- 1944-7973
- OpenAlex
- W2048568378
- Cited by
- 8,300
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 388 · 2025: 414 · 2024: 430 · 2023: 481 · 2022: 535 · 2021: 475 · 2020: 402 · 2019: 376 · 2018: 359 · 2017: 335 · 2016: 338 · 2015: 284 · 2014: 314 · 2013: 294 · 2012: 259
- FWCI
- 22.97
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Water Resources Research (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Civil and Structural Engineering › Soil and Unsaturated Flow
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Groundwater flow and contamination studies
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Computational Mechanics › Heat and Mass Transfer in Porous Media
- Keywords
- unsaturated hydraulic conductivity, unsaturated porous media, residual moisture, pore size distribution, analytical model, soil water retention
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
