Lecture 4

Subsurface Waters
Prepared by:
Labusnog, Marlowe L.
Subsurface Waters
 Subsurface Waters
Subsurface Processes:
• Infiltration
• Subsurface flow (unsaturated flow)
• Groundwater flow
 Infiltration
• Infiltration – is the process of water penetrating
from the ground surface into the soil.
• Factors that influence the infiltration rate
• Condition of the soil surface & its vegetative cover
• the properties of the soil (e.g. porosity & hydraulic
conductivity)
• Current moisture content of the soil
Moisture Zones During
Infiltration
Infiltration Model
 Infiltration Model
• Infiltration capacity, fp, f(t) (length/time)– maximum rate at which
the given soil at a given time can absorb water (length/time)
• Field capacity – the volume of water that the ground can hold
• The actual rate of infiltration f can be expressed as
f = fp when i ≥ fp
f = i when i < fp
where i = intensity of rainfall. The infiltration capacity of a soil is high at
the beginning of a storm and has an exponential decay as the time
elapses.
Measurement of Infiltration
 Horton’s Model of Infiltration
• Infiltration begins at some rate f0 and exponentially decreases until it
reaches a constant rate fc:

𝒅𝑭
𝒇 𝒕 = 𝒇𝒄 + 𝒇𝟎 − 𝒇𝒄 𝒆−𝒌𝒕 =
𝒅𝒕
𝒇𝟎 − 𝒇 𝒄
𝒌=
𝑭𝒄
where:
f0 = initial rate of infiltration capacity
fc = final constant rate of infiltration at saturation
k = a constant depending primarily upon soil & vegetation
e = base of the Napierian logarithm
Fc = shaded area (Fig. 3.6)
t = time from beginning of the storm
Horton’s Model of Infiltration
 Sample Problem
The Horton’s infiltration equation for a basin is given by
f = 6 + 16e-2t where f is in mm/hr, t is in hrs. If a storm
occurs on this basin with an intensity of more than 22
mm/hr. Determine the depth of infiltration for the first
45 mins. and the average infiltration rate for the first 75
mins.
 Sample Problem
• Determine the best values of the parameters of Horton’s
infiltration capacity equation for the following data
pertaining to infiltration tests on a soil using double ring
infiltrometer.
Time since start Cum. infiltration
(min.) depth (mm)

0
5 21.00
10 36.00
15 47.60
25 56.90
40 63.80
60 69.80
75 74.80
90 79.30
110 87.00
130 92.00
 Solution (MS Excel)
Incremental Infiltration
Time since start Cum. infiltration
depth in the capacity, f p Ln (f p - f c ) Time in hours
(min.) depth (mm)
interval (mm) (mm/h)
0
5 21.00 21.00 252.00 5.4553 0.0833
10 36.00 15.00 180.00 5.0876 0.1667
15 47.60 11.60 139.20 4.7974 0.2500
25 56.90 9.30 55.80 3.6323 0.4167
40 63.80 6.90 27.60 2.2618 0.6667
60 69.80 6.00 18.00 1.0000
75 74.80 5.00 20.00 1.2500
90 79.30 4.50 18.00 1.5000
110 87.00 7.70 23.10 1.8333
130 92.00 5.00 15.00 2.1667

fc = 18.00
Solution
Solution
 Solution

Note: The obtained coefficients from MSExcel is slightly

different when using manual computations. That is due to
the rounding – off of values. You may also use fc = 15mm/h
since it is the lowest computed value for the infiltration
capacity.
Philip’s Model of Infiltration
• The cumulative infiltration F(t) can be approximated by
𝑭 𝒕 = 𝑺𝒕𝟏Τ𝟐 + 𝑲𝒕
where
S = sorpitivity, w/c is a function of the soil suction
potential
K = hydraulic conductivity
• As t → ∞, f(t) tends to K
• The two terms in Philip’s equation represent the effects
of soil suction head and gravity head, respectively.
• For a horizontal column of soil, soil suction is the only
force drawing water into column, hence
𝑭 𝒕 = 𝑺𝒕𝟏Τ𝟐
 Kostiakov Model
𝑭𝒑 = 𝒂𝒕𝒃

𝐥𝐧 𝑭𝒑 = 𝐥𝐧 𝒂 + 𝒃 𝐥𝐧 𝒕

• The data is plotted as ln (Fp) vs ln (t) on an arithmetic

graph paper and the best fit straight through the plotted
points gives ln (a) as intercept and the slope is b. Note
that b is a positive quantity such that 0 < b < 1.
 Exercise
• Determine the best values of the parameters of Philips
infiltration capacity equation and Kostiakov’s formulat for
the following data pertaining to infiltration tests on a soil
using double ring infiltrometer. Time since start Cum. infiltration
(min.) depth (mm)

0
5 21.00
10 36.00
15 47.60
25 56.90
40 63.80
60 69.80
75 74.80
90 79.30
110 87.00
130 92.00
 Green – Ampt Infiltration
Model
𝜼𝑺𝒄
𝒇𝒑 = 𝑲 𝟏 +
𝑭𝒑
𝒏
𝒇𝒑 = 𝒎 +
𝑭𝒑
where: η = porosity of the soil
Sc = capillariy suction at the wetting front
K = Darcy’s hydraulic conductivity
m & n = Green – Ampt parameters
Green and Ampt Infiltration
Model
Green and Ampt Infiltration
Model
 Green and Ampt Infiltration
Model
• Green – Ampt Infiltration rate
𝝍∆𝜽
𝒇𝒕 = 𝑲 𝟏 +
𝑭𝒕
• Green – Ampt Cumulative Infiltration
𝑭 𝒕
𝑭 𝒕 = 𝑲𝒕 + 𝝍∆𝜽 𝒍𝒏 𝟏 +
𝝍∆𝜽
• Green – Ampt Parameters
𝜽 − 𝜽𝒓
𝒔𝒆 = ; 𝟎 ≤ 𝒔𝒆 ≤ 𝟏. 𝟎 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝟎 ≤ 𝒔𝒆 ≤ 𝜼
𝜼 − 𝜽𝒓

𝜼 − 𝜽𝒓 = 𝜽𝒆 ; ∆𝜽 = 𝟏 − 𝒔𝒆 𝜽𝒆
• Brooks and Corey Equation
𝝀
𝝍𝒃
𝒔𝒆 =
𝝍
 Green and Ampt Infiltration
Model
𝑭 𝒕
𝑭 𝒕 = 𝑲𝒕 + 𝝍∆𝜽 𝒍𝒏 𝟏 +
𝝍∆𝜽
• When t ≤ tp; tp is the ponding time f = i
𝝍∆𝜽
𝒊=𝑲 𝟏+
𝒊𝒕𝒑

𝑲𝝍∆𝜽
𝒕𝒑 = ; 𝑭𝒑 = 𝒊𝒕𝒑
𝒊 𝒊−𝑲
• When t > tp and i > f
𝝍∆𝜽
𝒇𝒕 = 𝑲 𝟏 +
𝑭𝒕

𝝍∆𝜽 + 𝑭
𝑭 − 𝑭𝒑 − 𝝍∆𝜽 𝐥𝐧 = 𝑲 𝒕 − 𝒕𝒑
𝝍∆𝜽 + 𝑭𝒑
Green and Ampt Infiltration
Model
Ponding Time
 Abstraction using
Green and Ampt model
 Sample Problem
• Compute the infiltration rate f and cumulative
infiltration F after one hour of infiltration into a silt loam
soil that initially had an effective saturation of 30
percent. Assume water is ponded to a small but
negligible depth on the surface.
• From the previous problem, for a silt loam soil 𝝍∆𝜽=
5.68cm and K = 0.65 cm/h. Compute the ponding time
and the accumulated infiltration for i = 1cm/h and i =
5cm/h, respectively.
• In addition, calculate the cumulative infiltration and the
infiltration rate after one hour of rainfall of intensity
5cm/h on a silt loam with soil with an initial effective
saturation of 30 percent.
Thank You!