• Journal of Korea Soil Environment Society
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.81-94
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• 1997

In many solute transport studies, either flux or resident concentration has been used. Choice of the concentration mode was dependent on the monitoring device in solute displacement experiments. It has been accepted that no priority exists in the selection of concentration mode in the study of solute transport. It would be questionable, however, to accept the equivalency in the solute transport parameters between flux and resident concentrations in structured soils exhibiting preferential movement of solute. In this study, we investigate how they differ in the monitored breakthrough curves (BTCs) and transport parameters for a given boundary and flow condition by performing solute displacement experiments on a number of undisturbed soil columns. Both flux and resident concentrations have been simultaneously obtained by monitoring the effluent and resistance of the horizontally-positioned TDR probes. Two different solute transport models namely, convection-dispersion equation (CDE) and convective lognormal transfer function (CLT) models, were fitted to the observed breakthrough data in order to quantify the difference between two concentration modes. The study reveals that soil columns having relatively high flux densities exhibited great differences in the degree of peak concentration and travel time of peak between flux and resident concentrations. The peak concentration in flux mode was several times higher than that in resident one. Accordingly, the estimated parameters of flux mode differed greatly from those of resident mode and the difference was more pronounced in CDE than CLT model. Especially in CDE model, the parameters of flux mode were much higher than those of resident mode. This was mainly due to the bypassing of solute through soil macropores and failure of the equilibrium CDE model to adequate description of solute transport in studied soils. In the domain of the relationship between the ratio of hydrodynamic dispersion to molecular diffusion and the peclet number, both concentrations fall on a zone of predominant mechanical dispersion. However, it appears that more molecular diffusion contributes to the solute spreading in the matrix region than the macropore region due to the nonliearity present in the pore water velocity and dispersion coefficient relationship.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.713-724
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• 1996

The time-series resident solute concentrations, monitored at two field plots using the automated 144-channel TDR system by Kim (this issue), are used to investigate the dominant transport mechanism at field scale. Two models, based on contradictory assumptions for describing the solute transport in the vadose zone, are fitted to the measured mean breakthrough curves (BTCs): the deterministic one-dimensional convection-dispersion model (CDE) and the stochastic-convective lognormal transfer function model (CLT). In addition, moment analysis has been performed using the probability density functions (pdfs) of the travel time of resident concentration. Results of moment analysis have shown that the first and second time moments of resident pdf are larger than those of flux pdf. Based on the time moments, expressed in function of model parameters, variance and dispersion of resident solute travel times are derived. The relationship between variance or dispersion of solute travel time and depth has been found to be identical for both the time-series flux and resident concentrations. Based on these relationships, the two models have been tested. However, due to the significant variations of transport properties across depth, the test has led to unreliable results. Consequently, the model performance has been evaluated based on predictability of the time-series resident BTCs at other depths after calibration at the first depth. The evaluation of model predictability has resulted in a clear conclusion that for both experimental sites the CLT model gives more accurate prediction than the CDE model. This suggests that solute transport at natural field soils is more likely governed by a stream tube model concept with correlated flow than a complete mixing model. Poor prediction of CDE model is attributed to the underestimation of solute spreading and thus resulting in an overprediction of peak concentration.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.699-712
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• 1996

Field scale experiments using an automated 144-channel TDR system were conducted which monitored the movement of solute through unsaturated loamy soils. The experiments were carried out on two different field plots of 0.54 ha to study the vertical movement of solute plume created by applying a square pulse of $CaCl_2$ as a tracer. The residence concentration was monitored at 24 locations on a transect and 5 depths per location by horizontally-positioning 50 cm long triple wire TDR probes to study the heterogeneity of solute travel times and the governing transport concept at field scale. This paper describes details of experimental methodology and calibration aspects of the TDR system. Three different calibration methods for estimation of solute concentration from TDR-measured bulk soil electrical conductivity were used for each field site. Data analysis of mean breakthrough curves (BTCs) and parameters estimated using the convection-dispersion model (CDE) and the convective-lognormal transfer function model (CLT) reveals that the automated TDR system is a viable technique to study the field scale solute transport providing a normal distribution of resident concentration in a high resolution of time series, and that calibration method does not significantly affect both the shape of BTC and the parameters related to the peak travel time. Among the calibration methods, the simple linear model (SLM), a modified version of Rhoades' model, appears to be promising in the calibration of horizontally-positioned TDR probes at field condition.