Indirect estimation of the Convective Lognormal Transfer function model parameters for describing solute transport in unsaturated and undisturbed soil

Solute transport in partially saturated soils is largely affected by fluid velocity distribution and pore size distribution within the solute transport domain. Hence, it is possible to describe the solute transport process in terms of the pore size distribution of the soil, and indirectly in terms of the soil hydraulic properties. In this paper, we present a conceptual approach that allows predicting the parameters of the Convective Lognormal Transfer model from knowledge of soil moisture and the Soil Moisture Characteristic (SMC), parameterized by means of the closed-form model of Kosugi (1996). It is assumed that in partially saturated conditions, the air filled pore volume act as an inert solid phase, allowing the use of the Arya et al. (1999) pragmatic approach to estimate solute travel time statistics from the saturation degree and SMC parameters. The approach is evaluated using a set of partially saturated transport experiments as presented by Mohammadi and Vanclooster (2011). Experimental results showed that the mean solute travel time, ut, increases proportionally with the depth (travel distance) and decreases with flow rate. The variance of solute travel time sigma(2)(t) first decreases with flow rate up to 0.4-0.6 Ks and subsequently increases. For all tested BTCs predicted solute transport with p estimated from the conceptual model performed much better as compared to predictions with mu(t) and sigma(2)(t) estimated from calibration of solute transport at shallow soil depths. The use of mu(t) estimated from the conceptual model therefore increases the robustness of the CLT model in predicting solute transport in heterogeneous soils at larger depths. In view of the fact that reasonable indirect estimates of the SMC can be made from basic soil properties using pedotransfer functions, the presented approach may be useful for predicting solute transport at field or watershed scales. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.