STUDY OF INFILTRATION INTO A HETEROGENEOUS SOIL USING MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING

✍ Scribed by M. H. G. AMIN; R. J. CHORLEY; K. S. RICHARDS; L. D. HALL; T. A. CARPENTER; MELENA CISLEROVA; THOMAS VOGEL

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 271 KB
• Volume: 11
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0885-6087
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1085(199704)11:5<471::aid-hyp454>3.0.co;2-v

✦ Synopsis

In this paper, the feasibility of using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to study water in®ltration into a heterogeneous soil is examined, together with its diculties and limitations. MRI studies of ponded water in®ltration into an undisturbed soil core show that the combination of one-and two-dimensional imaging techniques provides a visual and non-destructive means of monitoring the temporal changes of soil water content and the moisture pro®le, and the movement of the wetting front. Two-dimensional images show air entrapment in repetitive ponded in®ltration experiments. During the early stages of in®ltration, one-dimensional images of soil moisture pro®les clearly indicate preferential ¯ow phenomena. The observed advance of wetting fronts can be described by a linear relationship between the square root of in®ltration time ( t p ) and the distance of the wetting front from the soil surface. Similarly, the cumulative in®ltration is also directly proportional to t p . Furthermore, from the MRI in®ltration moisture pro®les, it is possible to estimate the parameters that feature in in®ltration equations.