A Simple Device for Field and Laboratory Measurements of Soil Air Permeability

We designed a simple, robust, accurate and portable air permeameter to measure soil air permeability, K-a, in the laboratory and in the field. The permeameter uses a hand-made manometer, a graded cylinder to measure air discharge volume and a soil sampler. The device allows the measurement of K-a at several levels of pressure difference, subjected to a laminar air flow regime. To confirm the laminar flow regime and to examine applicability of the device, we measured air permeabilities in laboratory conditions and in situ along a hill-slope at a wide range of soil air contents under different pressure gradients. The results confirm that the developed cost efficient and robust device yields reliable measurements of K-a in the laboratory and in the field.