Professional Documents
Culture Documents
R M Mambwe
Civil Engineering Dept., Civil Engineering Dept.,
CPUT, Bellville Campus. CPUT, Bellville Campus.
ABC Building ABC Building
Room 1.34 Room 1.06
SOME DEFINIITONS
INFILTRATION RATE:
2
SOME DEFINIITONS
INFILTRATION CAPACITY (fc):
❖Maximum rate soil can absorb water. (but fc varies
with soil wetness, rain intensity, etc.)
❖Units = (L/T) = (often measured in mm/h)
3
NFILTRATION PROCESS
Infiltration rate varies with time according to the
current moisture level within the soil zone and the
current rainfall intensity.
As the moisture level increases the infiltration rate
will decrease. However, at a certain moisture level, the
rate will reach a minimum value, known as the
infiltration capacity (fc).
❖ Therefore in measuring infiltration, the focus is normally on
measuring either the maximum rate (the initial infiltration
rate (f0)) or the minimum rate (fc).
4
NFILTRATION PROCESS
At start of a rainfall event on dry ground (with soil fc > i), water
will infiltrate into the soil at a rate equal to the rainfall intensity
(i).
Infiltration rate will remain equal to the rainfall intensity until
the soil zone becomes saturated.
Now the actual infiltration(f) rate becomes equal to the
infiltration capacity rate (fc) [ excess rain is runoff]
Shape of infiltration vs time curve after this point will be
influenced by the initial soil moisture content and the rainfall
intensity:
5
METHODS TO MEASURE INFILTRATION - INFILTROMETERS
1. Flooding Infiltrometers
They are usually rings or tubes inserted in the ground.
Water is applied and maintained at a constant level and
observations made of the rate of replenishment required.
6
METHODS TO MEASURE INFILTRATION - INFILTROMETERS
1. Rainfall simulators
Here, artificial rainfall is simulated over a small test plot
and the infiltration calculated from observations of
rainfall and runoff, with consideration given to
depression storage and interception.
This is a special
device, combination
of the ponded ring
infiltration and
simulated rainfall
methods.
It easily and rapidly
takes measurements.
7
METHODS TO CALCULATE INFILTRATION - MODELS
1. HORTON’S INFILTRATION MODEL
Assumption: if rainfall intensity (i) is greater than the
infiltration rate/capacity (f), f would decrease exponentially
with time. Eventually the rate would reach a minimum as time
tends to infinity:
8
METHODS TO CALCULATE INFILTRATION - MODELS
1. HORTON’S INFILTRATION MODEL
− kt
f t = f c + ( f o − f c )e
where:
ft = the infiltration rate (depth/time) at some time t (mm/hr);
9
HORTON’S INFILTRATION MODEL
1. Factors influencing fc, fo,
and k (Wilson, 2011)
k is a function of surface
texture: if vegetation is
present k is small and for a
bare surface k is large.
10
HORTON’S INFILTRATION MODEL
1. Factors influencing fc, fo,
and k (Wilson, 2011)
11
HORTON’S INFILTRATION MODEL
1. Factors influencing fc, fo,
and k (Wilson, 2011)
fc is a function of :
❖ Slope, up to a range of 16% to
24% (no variation beyond this
range)
❖ Initial moisture content – the
dryer the soil initially, the larger
fc will be
❖ Rainfall intensity – if the
intensity increases, fc increases.
Rain intensity has a greater
effect than all variables
12
HORTON’S INFILTRATION MODEL
1. representative values of fc, fo, and k (Wilson, 2011)
13
ɸ - INDEX METHOD
17
ɸ - INDEX METHOD (Han, 2010)
18