Syllabus
1. introduction: soil phase, soil texture, soil mineralogy, soil structure
2. definition of unsaturated zone and definition of basic soil characteristics
3. humidity, suction pressure and their measurement
4. retention curve, its description and measurement
5. steady flow in unsaturated environment: theory and measurement
6. infiltration and drainage, flow modeling
7. flow modeling
8. flow modeling
9. transport processes: advection, diffusion, dispersion
10. preferential flow and dual permeability models
11. heat flow
12. excursion to the Research Institute for Soil and Water Conservation
Annotation
This is an introductory course to vadose zone hydrology. The course begins with different soil characteristics such as soil phases and mineralogy, and soil water content and potential.
With the knowledge of soil physical properties the course moves to its core focus - the understanding of steady water flow and solute transport in unsaturated environment.
The course combines the theory, lab measurements, and mathematical modelling (programs RETC and Hydrus 1-D). An excursion to the Research Institute for Soil and Water Conservation is also part of the course.