Differences in soil stability, especially in visually comparable soils can occur due to microstructural processes and interactions. By investigating these microstructural processes with rheological investigations, it is possible to achieve a better understanding of soil behaviour from the mesoscale (soil aggregates) to macroscale (bulk soil). In this paper, a rheological investigation of the factors influencing microstructural stability of riparian soils was conducted. Homogenized samples of Marshland soils from the riparian zone of the Elbe River (North Germany) were analyzed with amplitude sweeps (AS) under controlled shear deformation in a modular compact rheometer MCR 300 (Anton Paar, Germany) at different matric potentials. A range physicochemical parameters were determined (texture, pH, organic matter, CaCO3 etc.) and these factors were used to parameterize pedotransfer functions.
The results indicate a clear dependence of microstructural elasticity on texture and water content. Although the influence of individual physicochemical factors varies depending on texture, the relevant features were identified taking combined effects into account. Thus, stabilizing factors are: organic matter, calcium ions, CaCO3 and pedogenic iron oxides; whereas sodium ions and water content represent structurally unfavorable factors. Based on the determined statistical relationships between rheological and physicochemical parameters, pedotransfer functions (PTF) have been developed.
Drainage of paved and unpaved roads has been implicated as a major contributor of overland flow and erosion in mountainous landscapes. Despite this, few watershed models include or have tested for the effect roads have on discharge and sediment loads. Though having a model is an important step, its proper application and attention to distinct landscape features is even more important. This study focuses on developing a module for drainage from a road and tests it on a nested watershed (Shanko Bahir) within a larger previously studied site (Debre Mawi) that receives overland flow contributions from a highly compacted layer of soil on an unpaved road surface. Shanko Bahir experiences a sub-humid monsoonal climate and was assessed for the rainy seasons of 2010, 2011, and 2012. The model chosen is the Parameter Efficient Distributed (PED) model, previously used where saturation-excess overland flow heavily influences discharge and sediment concentration variation, though infiltration-excess occasionally occurs. Since overland flow on unpaved surfaces emulates Hortonian flow, an adjustment to the PED model (the developed module) advances possible incorporation of both flow regimes. The modification resulted in similar modeling performance as previous studies in the Blue Nile Basin on a daily basis (NSE = 0.67 for discharge and 0.71 for sediment concentrations). Furthermore, the road while occupying a small proportion of the sub-watershed (11%) contributed importantly to the early discharge and sediment transport events demonstrating the effect of roads especially on sediment concentrations. Considerations for the dynamic erodibility of the road improved sediment concentration simulation further (NSE = 0.75). The results show that this PED modeling framework can be adjusted to include unpaved compacted surfaces to give reasonable results, but more work is needed to account for contributions from gullies, which can cause high influxes of sediment.
The capabilities of the HYDRUS-1D and HYDRUS (2D/3D) software packages continuously expanded during the last two decades. Various new capabilities were added recently to both software packages, mostly by developing new standard add-on modules such as HPx, C-Ride, UnsatChem, Wetland, Fumigant, DualPerm, and Slope Stability. The new modules may be used to simulate flow and transport processes in one- and two-dimensional transport domains and are fully supported by the HYDRUS graphical user interface (GUI). Several nonstandard add-on modules, such as Overland, Isotope, and Centrifuge, have also been developed, but are not fully supported by the HYDRUS GUI. The objective of this manuscript is to describe several additional features of the upcoming Version 3 of HYDRUS (2D/3D), which was unveiled at a recent (March 2017) HYDRUS conference and workshop in Prague. The new features include a flexible reservoir boundary condition, expanded root growth features, and new graphical capabilities of the GUI. Mathematical descriptions of the new features are provided, as well as two examples illustrating applications of the reservoir boundary condition.
A finite volume model for two-layer shallow water flow in microtidal salt-wedge estuaries is presented in this work. The governing equations are a coupled system of shallow water equations with source terms accounting for irregular channel geometry and shear stress at the bed and interface between the layers. To solve this system we applied the Qscheme of Roe with suitable treatment of source terms, coupling terms, and wet-dry fronts. The proposed numerical model is explicit in time, shock-capturing and it satisfies the extended conservation property for water at rest. The model was validated by comparing the steady-state solutions against a known arrested salt-wedge model and by comparing both steady-state and time-dependant solutions against field observations in Rječina Estuary in Croatia. When the interfacial friction factor was chosen correctly, the agreement between numerical results and field observations was satisfactory.