Measurement of in-situ Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity and Soil Structure Analysis in Arid Land

Abstract

A lot of methods for in-situ measurement of saturated hydraulic conductivity have so far been proposed, however, most of them rarely focused on the measurement in and land or discussed on the suitable measurement method considering soil structure. In the present study, saturated hydraulic conductivity in the research area of Leonora in Western Australia, classified to semi-dry area, was measuretl by using falling head method, Guelph permeameter method and cylinder intake rate method. We also made their characteristics and mutual correlation clear and analyzed the soil structure of each measuring point. The results on saturated hydraulic conductivity for bare soil measured by falling head method indicated that the coefficient of variation was small, 30.6' 58.9% compared to the results for wet land. The geometric mean of the values measured by falling head method for vertically different points was close to the overall value estimated from the results on permeation rate by Guelph permeameter method. It was concluded that application of multiple measurement methods for saturated hydraulic conductivity with different principles and their mutual comparison are essential to analyze the soil structure.