A comparison of three measuring methods for estimating the saturated hydraulic conductivity in the shallow subsurface layer of mountain podzols

• We have measured saturated hydraulic conductivity in mountain podzolic soil.
• A gravelly sandy ash-grey layer has been measured in a hydrologically important area.
• Three widely-used methods based on different flow geometries have been compared.
• The laboratory method yielded slightly higher hydraulic conductivity values.
• From the engineering perspective, all tested methods provided similar mean values.

Saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) is a key input parameter for modeling water flow in soils. Well-established methods exist, but there is no methodological standard or benchmark. This paper presents a comparison of three well-established measurement methods, which we used in the specific conditions of extremely heterogeneous mountain podzols. The following devices were applied to undisturbed soil core samples (diameter of 5.6 cm). Ks was estimated for a shallow subsurface ash-gray layer. The geometric mean values for Ks measured using these three methods were: GP — 4.41 × 10− 6 ms− 1, SR — 3.20 × 10− 6 ms− 1, and LP — 7.09 × 10− 6 ms− 1. The mean values obtained using field methods were not statistically different. The laboratory permeameter yielded slightly higher values than the field methods. From the engineering perspective, all tested methods provided similar mean values.