HR: 1340h
AN: H33E-1415    [Abstracts]
TI: Correspondence of Hydraulic Functions and Its Implication on Upscaling for Large Scale Flux and Surface Soil Moisture in Heterogeneous Soils
AU: * Zhu, J
EM: Jianting.Zhu@dri.edu
AF: Desert Research Institute, 755 E Flamingo Road, Las Vegas, NV 89119 United States
AU: Young, M H
EM: Michael.Young@dri.edu
AF: Desert Research Institute, 755 E Flamingo Road, Las Vegas, NV 89119 United States
AB: This study investigates two major issues involving soil hydraulic properties: (1) hydraulic parameter correspondence between two commonly used soil hydraulic property functions, and (2) its implication in upscaling of hydraulic properties to large scale heterogeneous soils. We first establish parameter correspondence between the conductivity functions based on hydrologic process equivalence. Our approach forces predicted flux across the soil surface and the surface soil moisture content to be constant for different hydraulic property functions. We selected these two hydrologic quantities for correspondence purposes because these state variables are important for upscaling hydrologic processes from the local to large scales. We then investigate the implication of parameter equivalence on upscaling schemes for soil hydraulic parameters. This allows predictions of the ensemble characteristics for steady-state flow at large scales. To test the inference regarding the impact of hydraulic parameter correspondence and statistical structure on upscaling schemes, we will use the hydraulic property data measured from the Corn Creek Fan Complex located on the Desert National Wildlife Refuge north of Las Vegas, NV.
DE: 1829 Groundwater hydrology
DE: 1839 Hydrologic scaling
DE: 1866 Soil moisture
DE: 1875 Vadose zone
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005