Correspondence between theory and practice of a Beerkan infiltration experiment

Abstract

The Beerkan infiltration experiment is carried out by inserting the ring a short depth into the soil and establishing a positive head of water on the infiltration surface for at least a part of the run. Nevertheless, the data are analyzed by assuming a fully unconfined infiltration process (ring insertion depth, d = 0 cm) and a null ponded depth of water (H = 0 cm). The influence of ring insertion and ponded water on an infiltration process of 2 h sampled every minute was tested in this numerical investigation. Five soils varying from sand to silt loam, three ring radii (5–15 cm), and the Beerkan-specific range of values for both d and H (between 0 and 1 cm) were considered. The differences between the theoretical (d = H = 0 cm) and the practical (d = H = 1 cm) setups varied from −10.4 to +8.6% for the mean infiltration rate and from −10.2 to +8.3% for the final cumulative infiltration. These differences were small, and they decreased in absolute value by considering a soil-dependent ring radius. In particular, nearly negligible differences were detected using a small ring in coarse-textured soils and a large ring in fine-textured soils. In the coarser soils, inserting the ring and establishing a ponded depth of water did not alter the estimated coefficients of the two-parameter infiltration model appreciably with the cumulative linearization method, because these coefficients differed between the theoretical and practical setups by no more than 9.2%. In fine soils, linearization could not be possible regardless of the considered setup, or it was the use of d = H = 1 cm instead of d = H = 0 cm that impeded a convincing linearization of the data. In conclusion, the good correspondence, in many circumstances, between the theoretical and the practical Beerkan infiltration experiment reinforced the interest in this simple experiment as a practical means to collect infiltration data in the field.