A mass-conservative finite volume predictor-corrector solution of the 1D Richards' equation

•A predictor-corrector finite volume method solution of the 1D Richards' equation is presented.•The scheme is mass-conservative and non-iterative.•Five different schemes to evaluate inter-cell hydraulic conductivity are investigated.•The scheme is tested with very dry soil, and variably saturated flows with various boundary conditions.

SummaryNumerical solution of the Richards' equation (RE) in variably saturated soils continues to be a challenge due to its highly non-linear behavior. This is particularly true as soils approach saturation and the behavior of the fundamental partial differential equation changes from elliptic to parabolic. In this paper, a finite volume predictor-corrector method with adaptive time-stepping was developed to solve the 1D vertical RE. The numerical method was mass-conservative and non-iterative. In the predictor step, the pressure head-based form of the RE was solved using the cell-centered finite volume method and the pressure head was updated. In the corrector step, the soil water content was calculated by solving the mixed form RE. Five different schemes to evaluate the inter-cell hydraulic conductivity were investigated. The robustness and accuracy of the numerical model were demonstrated through simulation of experimental tests, including free drainage, field infiltration into wet and dry soils, and laboratory infiltration with falling water table. Numerical results were compared against laboratory measurements, simulation results from the Hydrus-1D program, or analytical solution when available. Results showed that the developed scheme is robust and accurate in simulating variably saturated flows with various boundary conditions. The arithmetic mean and Szymkiewicz's mean of inter-cell hydraulic conductivity performed better than other methods especially in the case of infiltration into very dry soil.