• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.77-87
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• 2022

Many geotechnical analyses require the investigation of water flow within partially saturated soil zone to incorporate the effect of climatic conditions. It is widely understood that the hydraulic properties of the partially saturated soil should be included in the transient seepage analyses. However, the characteristics of dual porosity soils with dual-mode water retention curve are normally modelled using single-mode mathematical equation for simplification of the analysis. In reality, the rainwater flow can be affected significantly by the dual-mode hydraulic properties of the soil. This paper presents the variations of safety factor for dual porosity soil slope with dual-mode water retention curve and dual-mode unsaturated permeability. This paper includes the development of the new dual-mode unsaturated permeability to represent the characteristics of soil with the dual-mode water retention curve. The finite element analyses were conducted to examine the role of dual-mode water retention curve and dual-mode unsaturated permeability on the variations of safety factor under rainfall loading. The results indicate that the safety factor variations of dual porosity soil slope modelled using the dual-mode water retention curve and the unsaturated permeability equation are lower than those of dual porosity slope modelled using single-mode water retention curve and unsaturated permeability equations.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.75-87
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• 2021

Because the hydraulic/mechanical behaviour of unsaturated soil is more complicated than that of saturated soil, one of the most important issues in modelling unsaturated soil is to properly couple its stress-strain relationship with its water retention characteristics. Based on the results of a series of tests, the stress-strain relationship and the changes in suction and saturation of unsaturated completely decomposed granite (CDG, also called Masado) vary substantially under different loading/hydraulic conditions. To precisely model the hydraulic/mechanical behaviour of unsaturated Masado, in this study, the superloading concept was firstly introduced into an existing saturated/unsaturated constitutive model to consider the structural influences. Then a water retention curve (WRC) model considering the volumetric change in the soil, in which the skeleton and scanning curves of the water retention characteristics were assumed to shift in parallel in accordance with the change in the void ratio, was proposed. The proposed WRC model was incorporated into the constitutive model, and the validity of the newly proposed model was verified using the results of tests conducted on unsaturated Masado, including water retention, oedometer and triaxial tests. The accuracy of the proposed model in describing the stress-strain relationship and the variations in suction and saturation of unsaturated Masado is satisfactory.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.340-344
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• 2014

Compost and gypsum can be used to ameliorate soil physicochemical properties in reclaimed tidal lands as an organic and inorganic amendment, respectively. To evaluate effects of compost and gypsum on soil water movement and retention as a soil physical property, we measured the soil's saturated hydraulic conductivity and field capacity after treating the soil collected in a reclaimed tidal land with compost and gypsum. Saturated hydraulic conductivity of soil increased when compost was applied at the conventional application rate of $30Mg\;ha^{-1}$. However, the further application of compost insignificantly (P > 0.05) increased saturated hydraulic conductivity. On the other hand, additional gypsum application significantly increased soil saturated hydraulic conductivity while it decreased soil field capacity, implying the possible effect of gypsum on flocculating soil colloidal particles. The results in this study suggested that compost and gypsum can be used to improve hydrological properties of reclaimed tidal lands through increasing soil water retention and movement, respectively.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.373-382
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• 2022

Unsaturated soil at high suctions is widespread. Many civil engineering projects are related to the hydro-mechanical behavior of unsaturated soils at high suctions, particularly in arid and semiarid areas. To investigate water retention behaviors of nine clayey soils (one is classified as fat clay and the others are classified as lean clay according to the unified soil classification system), the high suction (3.29-286.7 MPa) was imposed on the specimens at zero net stress by the vapor equilibrium technique. In this paper, the effect of void ratio on the water retention behavior at high suction was discussed in detail. Validation data showed that soil types, i.e., different mineralogical compositions, are critical in the soil water retention behavior at a high suction range. Second, the hysteresis behavior at a high suction range is mainly related to the clay content and the specific surface area. And the mechanism of water retention and hysteresis behavior at high suctions was discussed. Moreover, the maximum suction is not a unique value, and it is crucial to determine the maximum suction value accurately, especially for the shear strength prediction at high suctions. If the soil consists of hydrophilic minerals such as montmorillonite and illite, the maximum suction will be lower than 10⁶ kPa. Finally, using the area of hysteresis to quantify the degree of hysteresis at a high suction range is proposed. There was a good correlation between the area of hydraulic hysteresis and the specific surface area.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.24 no.E1
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• pp.12-23
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• 2008

Relationship between the optimum soil water content and clay content on soil samples from mid-latitude European forest was tested. Soil samples from 4 different experimental sites (two forest sites in the Netherlands and a Danish forest) were collected, and analyzed for the soil physical and chemical characteristics. Water retention curves for the soil samples were determined according to the standard procedure ISO 11274, and pF decreased with increase in soil water contents. NO is simultaneously produced and consumed by microbiological processes, which comprise of nitrification and denitrification. NO consumption and production rates were determined from the soil samples and compared to their corresponding water retention curves in order to find the optimum soil water content and matric potential for maximum NO release from mid-latitude soils. NO consumption rate coefficient (k) in Hollandse Hout was significantly lower than those in other soil sites. Maximum NO production was observed at an intermediate soil moisture ($0.2{\sim}0.3kg/kg$) in all the soil samples. Resulting from the NO consumption and production rates for the soils, the empirical NO fluxes of the different soils were calculated in the laboratory.

• Water Engineering Research
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.31-44
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• 2002

The effect of diurnal cycle, intermittent visit of observation satellite, sensor installation, partial coverage of remote sensing, heterogeneity of soil properties and precipitation to the soil moisture estimation error were analyzed to present the global sampling strategy of soil moisture. Three models, the theoretical soil moisture model, WGR model proposed Waymire of at. (1984) to generate rainfall, and Turning Band Method to generate two dimensional soil porosity, active soil depth and loss coefficient field were used to construct sufficient two-dimensional soil moisture data based on different scenarios. The sampling error is dominated by sampling interval and design scheme. The effect of heterogeneity of soil properties and rainfall to sampling error is smaller than that of temporal gap and spatial gap. Selecting a small sampling interval can dramatically reduce the sampling error generated by other factors such as heterogeneity of rainfall, soil properties, topography, and climatic conditions. If the annual mean of coverage portion is about 90%, the effect of partial coverage to sampling error can be disregarded. The water retention capacity of fields is very important in the sampling error. The smaller the water retention capacity of the field (small soil porosity and thin active soil depth), the greater the sampling error. These results indicate that the sampling error is very sensitive to water retention capacity. Block random installation gets more accurate data than random installation of soil moisture gages. The Walnut Gulch soil moisture data show that the diurnal variation of soil moisture causes sampling error between 1 and 4 % in daily estimation.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.1-11
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• 2008

Although landslides were frequently occurred under Tripterygium regelii and Rubus sp. vegetations, the damage of landslide was not observed in sasa (Sasa borealis) stands. These phenomena may be affected by forest vegetation types. This result suggested that the landslide occurred in Jirisan (Mt.) National Park may be closely related to water retention capacity at Sasa borealis stands. This study compared and analyzed the water retention capacity of each soil horizon of sasa, larch (Larix leptolepis) and mongolian oak (Quercus mongorica) stands. Soil bulk density in A horizon was lower in sasa (0.776g/$cm^3$) than in mongolian oak (0.828g/$cm^3$) and in larch stands (1.282g/$cm^3$). Water permeability in A horizon was 0.02055cm/sec for sasa, 0.00575cm/sec for mongolian oak, and 0.0007cm/sec for larch stands, respectively. The water permeability of sasa stand was about 3.6 times and about 29 times higher than in mongolian oak and in larch stands, respectively. This result indicates that water infiltration of soil surface during a rain event is more rapid in sasa than in other two stands. Soil organic matter content in B horizon was lower in larch (0.7%) than in mongolian oak (6.5%) and in Sasa (3.3%) stands. The solid ratio in A horizon was highest in larch among three stands, but that of mongolian oak and larch stands showed a similar rate. Pore space rates was 70.7% for A horizon and 70.6% for B horizon of sasa, 68.9% for A horizon and 70.6% for B horizon of sasa, 68.9% for A horizon and 70.6% for B horizon of mongolian oak forests and 51.7% for A horizon and 49.2% for B horizon of larch forests, respectively. According to pore space rates, the water retention capacity may be poor in larch stand compared with other two stands. Soil strength in sasa and mongolian stands was over 25kgf/$cm^2$ from 40cm depth, while the strength was over 25kgf/$cm^2$ from 25cm depth in larch stand. The result indicates that tree growth and water permeability in larch stand could be limited due to high soil strength. Larch stand was poor for soil pore space development to be offered to the water retention capacity, but water retention capacity of A horizon soil in sasa stand was high than that of other two stands. Therefore, establishment of sasa stand under larch stand could help to prevent landslides.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.30 no.1C
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• pp.53-63
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• 2010

Since the water retention curve is considered as a major parameter to evaluate the unsaturated ground or soils, overburden pressure and clay content on soils underneath ground surface have not been considered for estimating water retention characteristics. Therefore, a need exists that the effect of overburden pressure and clay content on water retention characteristics was assessed in typical weathered soils found in Korea. Soil-Water Characteristic Curve and the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity were estimated using water retention characteristics under the condition of different overburden pressure, clay content, and de-saturation path. Then, these effects are evaluated with the results of SWCC tests from the laboratory. In addition to that, the unsaturated moisture capacity and diffusivity of each case is discussed.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.401-408
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• 2022

As research on a controlled environment system based on crop growth environment sensing for sustainable production of horticultural crops and its industrial use has been important, research on how to properly utilize soil moisture sensors for outdoor cultivation is being actively conducted. This experiment was conducted to suggest the proper method of utilizing the TEROS 12, an FDR (frequency domain reflectometry) sensor, which is frequently used in industry and research fields, for each orchard soil in three regions in Korea. We collected soils from each orchard where fruit trees were grown, investigated the soil characteristics and soil water retention curve, and compared TEROS 12 sensor calibration equations to correlate the sensor output to the corresponding soil volumetric water content through linear and cubic regressions for each soil sample. The estimated value from the calibration equation provided by the manufacturer was also compared. The soil collected from all three orchards showed different soil characteristics and volumetric water content values by each soil water retention level across the soil samples. In addition, the cubic calibration equation for TEROS 12 sensor showed the highest coefficient of determination higher than 0.95, and the lowest RMSE for all soil samples. When estimating volumetric water contents from TEROS 12 sensor output using the calibration equation provided by the manufacturer, their calculated volumetric water contents were lower than the actual volumetric water contents, with the difference up to 0.09-0.17 m³·m^-3 depending on the soil samples, indicating an appropriate calibration for each soil should be preceded before FDR sensor utilization. Also, there was a difference in the range of soil volumetric water content corresponding to the soil water retention levels across the soil samples, suggesting that the soil water retention information should be required to properly interpret the volumetric water content value of the soil. Moreover, soil with a high content of sand had a relatively narrow range of volumetric water contents for irrigation, thus reducing the accuracy of an FDR sensor measurement. In conclusion, analyzing soil water retention characteristics of the target soil and the soil-specific calibration would be necessary to properly quantify the soil water status and determine their adequate irrigation point using an FDR sensor.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.32 no.4C
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• pp.169-175
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• 2012

Soil water retention characteristics are influenced by factors of the confining stress and hysteresis in the variably saturated soil. In the description of effective stress based on hydraulic characteristics, the contribution of a matric suction to effective stress then varies with depth or is different between the processes of infiltration and evaporation. Unsaturated effective stress can be described based on suction stress characteristic curve, in which a representative soil water retention curve is required to evaluate. Pressure palate extractor tests under various confining stresses were performed and the hysteresis of drying and wetting process was also acquired. In the process of drying or wetting, a unique relationship has been estimated on the effective volumetric water content and the matric suction, which defines suction stress characteristic curve. In the unsaturated shear strength from triaxial tests, the suction stress and the effective stress were evaluated by matric suctions. The failure envelop by effective stress based on soil water retention characteristics was unique and the same as the saturated one. The measured suction stress from triaxial tests was similar to that from the soil water retention curve. Therefore it is verified that a representative soil water retention curve can be defined which is independent of the confining effect under wetting or drying process of the hysteresis.