Influence of aspect and slope gradient on hydraulic conductivity measured by tension infiltrometer

✍ Scribed by Manuel Casanova; Ingmar Messing; Abraham Joel

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2000
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 155 KB
• Volume: 14
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0885-6087
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1085(200001)14:1<155::aid-hyp917>3.0.co;2-j

✦ Synopsis

A tension in®ltrometer technique was used to characterize dierences in hydraulic conductivity (K) in two rainfed hillsides (north-facing and south-facing) in central Chile. For the north-facing locations, smaller values of K (at a range of supply water pressure heads c) compared with south-facing locations were found, with accentuated dierences close to saturation (zero pressure head). The dierences were attributed to dierences in texture and organic matter contents observed for the two sites. Furthermore, K(c) had a tendency to increase with increasing slope gradient. This tendency was to an extent explained by the deviation from requirements of measurements on level ground. The dierences found in K(c) between dierent slope gradients were explained by the dierences in the vertical and lateral hydraulic conductivity and by the occurrence of surface sealing in low slope plots.