Abstract
This paper examined the effects of the mesh size, Δzcal, of discretized convection-dispersion equation and of sampling thickness of a soil layer, Δzsamp, on the crystallized salt mass per unit area, Msalt, commencement time of crystallization, tcryst, besides the vertical (z) profile of salt concentration, C, in the vicinity of the soil surface. A metal cylinder sampling method was developed to measure C of a thin layer with Δzsamp ≈ 0.2mm. It was seen that the Δzsamp should be less than 0.2mm to measure C(z) precisely. Otherwise, the value of C of the top soil layer did not reach the saturated concentration, although salt crystallization occurred on the soil surface. A numerical calculation could reproduce observed C(z) and Msalt for Δzcal = 0.2mm. However, when Δzcal > 0.2mm is used for calculating salt transfer, differences between calculated and measured Msalt and tcryst appear significantly, although the shape of calculated C(z) is apparently similar to that of measured C(z).
