New insights into the correlation between soil thermal conductivity and water retention in unsaturated soils
Abstract The heat transfer and water retention in soils, governed by soil thermal conductivity (λ) and soil water retention curve (SWRC), are coupled. Soil water content (θ) significantly affects λ. Several models have been developed to describe λ(θ) relationships for unsaturated soils. Ghanbarian a...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Vadose Zone Journal |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/vzj2.20297 |
| _version_ | 1797351212174016512 |
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| author | Yongwei Fu Behzad Ghanbarian Robert Horton Joshua Heitman |
| author_facet | Yongwei Fu Behzad Ghanbarian Robert Horton Joshua Heitman |
| author_sort | Yongwei Fu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The heat transfer and water retention in soils, governed by soil thermal conductivity (λ) and soil water retention curve (SWRC), are coupled. Soil water content (θ) significantly affects λ. Several models have been developed to describe λ(θ) relationships for unsaturated soils. Ghanbarian and Daigle presented a percolation‐based effective‐medium approximation (P‐EMA) for λ(θ) with two parameters: scaling exponent (ts) and critical water content (θc). In this study, we explored the new insights into the correlation between soil thermal conductivity and water retention using the P‐EMA and van Genuchten models. The θc was strongly correlated to selected soil hydraulic and physical properties, such as water contents at wilting point (θpwp), inflection point (θi), and hydraulic continuity (θhc) determined from measured SWRCs for a 23‐soil calibration dataset. The established relationships were then evaluated on a seven‐soil validation dataset to estimate θc. Results confirmed their robustness with root mean square error ranging from 0.011 to 0.015 cm3 cm−3, MAE ranging from 0.008 to 0.013 cm3 cm−3, and R2 of 0.98. Further discussion investigated the underlying mechanism for the correlation between θc with θhc which dominate both heat transfer and water flow. More importantly, this study revealed the possibility to further investigate the general relationship between λ(θ) and SWRC data in the future. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T12:56:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4c5425e3a3e142c0a92934b0268d50e2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1539-1663 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T12:56:10Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Vadose Zone Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-4c5425e3a3e142c0a92934b0268d50e22024-01-19T16:36:49ZengWileyVadose Zone Journal1539-16632024-01-01231n/an/a10.1002/vzj2.20297New insights into the correlation between soil thermal conductivity and water retention in unsaturated soilsYongwei Fu0Behzad Ghanbarian1Robert Horton2Joshua Heitman3Department of Crop and Soil Sciences North Carolina State University Raleigh, North Carolina USAPorous Media Research Lab, Department of Geology Kansas State University Manhattan, New York USADepartment of Agronomy Iowa State University Ames, Iowa USADepartment of Crop and Soil Sciences North Carolina State University Raleigh, North Carolina USAAbstract The heat transfer and water retention in soils, governed by soil thermal conductivity (λ) and soil water retention curve (SWRC), are coupled. Soil water content (θ) significantly affects λ. Several models have been developed to describe λ(θ) relationships for unsaturated soils. Ghanbarian and Daigle presented a percolation‐based effective‐medium approximation (P‐EMA) for λ(θ) with two parameters: scaling exponent (ts) and critical water content (θc). In this study, we explored the new insights into the correlation between soil thermal conductivity and water retention using the P‐EMA and van Genuchten models. The θc was strongly correlated to selected soil hydraulic and physical properties, such as water contents at wilting point (θpwp), inflection point (θi), and hydraulic continuity (θhc) determined from measured SWRCs for a 23‐soil calibration dataset. The established relationships were then evaluated on a seven‐soil validation dataset to estimate θc. Results confirmed their robustness with root mean square error ranging from 0.011 to 0.015 cm3 cm−3, MAE ranging from 0.008 to 0.013 cm3 cm−3, and R2 of 0.98. Further discussion investigated the underlying mechanism for the correlation between θc with θhc which dominate both heat transfer and water flow. More importantly, this study revealed the possibility to further investigate the general relationship between λ(θ) and SWRC data in the future.https://doi.org/10.1002/vzj2.20297 |
| spellingShingle | Yongwei Fu Behzad Ghanbarian Robert Horton Joshua Heitman New insights into the correlation between soil thermal conductivity and water retention in unsaturated soils Vadose Zone Journal |
| title | New insights into the correlation between soil thermal conductivity and water retention in unsaturated soils |
| title_full | New insights into the correlation between soil thermal conductivity and water retention in unsaturated soils |
| title_fullStr | New insights into the correlation between soil thermal conductivity and water retention in unsaturated soils |
| title_full_unstemmed | New insights into the correlation between soil thermal conductivity and water retention in unsaturated soils |
| title_short | New insights into the correlation between soil thermal conductivity and water retention in unsaturated soils |
| title_sort | new insights into the correlation between soil thermal conductivity and water retention in unsaturated soils |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/vzj2.20297 |
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