Evidence of Preferential Flow Activation in the Vadose Zone via Geophysical Monitoring
Preferential pathways allow rapid and non-uniform water movement in the subsurface due to strong heterogeneity of texture, composition, and hydraulic properties. Understanding the importance of preferential pathways is crucial, because they have strong impact on flow and transport hydrodynamics in t...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2021-02-01
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| Series: | Sensors |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/21/4/1358 |
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| author | Lorenzo De Carlo Kimberlie Perkins Maria Clementina Caputo |
| author_facet | Lorenzo De Carlo Kimberlie Perkins Maria Clementina Caputo |
| author_sort | Lorenzo De Carlo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Preferential pathways allow rapid and non-uniform water movement in the subsurface due to strong heterogeneity of texture, composition, and hydraulic properties. Understanding the importance of preferential pathways is crucial, because they have strong impact on flow and transport hydrodynamics in the unsaturated zone. Particularly, improving knowledge of the water dynamics is essential for estimating travel time through soil to quantify hazards for groundwater, assess aquifer recharge rates, improve agricultural water management, and prevent surface stormflow and flooding hazards. Small scale field heterogeneities cannot be always captured by the limited number of point scale measurements collected. In order to overcome these limitations, noninvasive geophysical techniques have been widely used in the last decade to predict hydrodynamic processes, due to their capability to spatialize hydrogeophysical properties with high resolution. In the test site located in Bari, Southern Italy, the geophysical approach, based on electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) monitoring, has been implemented to detect preferential pathways triggered by an artificial rainfall event. ERT-derived soil moisture estimations were obtained in order to quantitatively predict the water storage (m<sup>3</sup>m<sup>−3</sup>), water velocity (ms<sup>−1</sup>), and spread (m<sup>2</sup>) through preferential pathways by using spatial moments analysis. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T00:52:51Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b7d4cfa0c6074d2fb8ad635675a1143e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1424-8220 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T00:52:51Z |
| publishDate | 2021-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sensors |
| spelling | doaj.art-b7d4cfa0c6074d2fb8ad635675a1143e2023-12-11T17:06:55ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202021-02-01214135810.3390/s21041358Evidence of Preferential Flow Activation in the Vadose Zone via Geophysical MonitoringLorenzo De Carlo0Kimberlie Perkins1Maria Clementina Caputo2Water Research Institute, National Research Council of Italy, 70132 Bari, ItalyU.S. Geological Survey, 345 Middlefield Rd., MS-420, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USAWater Research Institute, National Research Council of Italy, 70132 Bari, ItalyPreferential pathways allow rapid and non-uniform water movement in the subsurface due to strong heterogeneity of texture, composition, and hydraulic properties. Understanding the importance of preferential pathways is crucial, because they have strong impact on flow and transport hydrodynamics in the unsaturated zone. Particularly, improving knowledge of the water dynamics is essential for estimating travel time through soil to quantify hazards for groundwater, assess aquifer recharge rates, improve agricultural water management, and prevent surface stormflow and flooding hazards. Small scale field heterogeneities cannot be always captured by the limited number of point scale measurements collected. In order to overcome these limitations, noninvasive geophysical techniques have been widely used in the last decade to predict hydrodynamic processes, due to their capability to spatialize hydrogeophysical properties with high resolution. In the test site located in Bari, Southern Italy, the geophysical approach, based on electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) monitoring, has been implemented to detect preferential pathways triggered by an artificial rainfall event. ERT-derived soil moisture estimations were obtained in order to quantitatively predict the water storage (m<sup>3</sup>m<sup>−3</sup>), water velocity (ms<sup>−1</sup>), and spread (m<sup>2</sup>) through preferential pathways by using spatial moments analysis.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/21/4/1358preferential flowtime-lapse ERTmoment analysis |
| spellingShingle | Lorenzo De Carlo Kimberlie Perkins Maria Clementina Caputo Evidence of Preferential Flow Activation in the Vadose Zone via Geophysical Monitoring Sensors preferential flow time-lapse ERT moment analysis |
| title | Evidence of Preferential Flow Activation in the Vadose Zone via Geophysical Monitoring |
| title_full | Evidence of Preferential Flow Activation in the Vadose Zone via Geophysical Monitoring |
| title_fullStr | Evidence of Preferential Flow Activation in the Vadose Zone via Geophysical Monitoring |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evidence of Preferential Flow Activation in the Vadose Zone via Geophysical Monitoring |
| title_short | Evidence of Preferential Flow Activation in the Vadose Zone via Geophysical Monitoring |
| title_sort | evidence of preferential flow activation in the vadose zone via geophysical monitoring |
| topic | preferential flow time-lapse ERT moment analysis |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/21/4/1358 |
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