Methods for measuring field-saturated hydraulic conductivity

Abstract

Double-ring infiltrometer, constant-head well permeameter, tension infiltrometer, and Porchet methods are compared to determine field-saturated hydraulic conductivity, K-fs. K-fs values of steady-state methods, which were calculated with analytical functions, are compared with saturated hydraulic conductivity, which is used to solve the Richards equation. Infiltration tests are carried out to estimate K-fs in natural soils, where the constant-head well permeameter method and the tension infiltrometer method show similar results, whereas the double-ring method exhibits high values and several installation problems. Even though the Porchet method is the easiest and cheapest method, it overestimates the K-fs value.