Soil physics and vadose zone hydrology - 5EMHAAO0

Goal(s)

Improving knowledge in soil water beyond the aquifer or saturated zone, at the interface with the atmosphere. Understanding water infiltration, plant water uptake and water movements and monitoring in soils for irrigation or civil engineering needs.

Content(s)

Generalities on fields of application for flow in unsaturated zone. Physical characteristics of porous media. Laboratory measurements and in situ field monitoring.
Physics of unsaturated porous media: capillarity, wettability, retention, water potential, water content, tensiometers, pF, hysteresis, unsaturated hydraulic conductivity, pressure-water content relationships.
Hydrodynamics: Richards and Fokker-Planck equations, capillary rise, infiltration, Green & Ampt approximation, Philip equation, sorptivity, hydrodynamic measurements, water balance, evapotranspiration and drainage.
Transfer in vapor phase: transport law, coupled heat and mass fluxes, application in drying processes.

Engineering hydrology, Hydro-meteorology, Groundwater flows