Water transport under winter conditions

The behaviour of two soil samples (sandy vs. loamy soil) are investigated under saturated, unsaturated and frozen conditions. The improved physical infiltration model based on the combination of Darcy's Law, Hagen-Poiseuille's Law, the capillary-rise equation and the van Genuchten θ(h) function determines with considerable accuracy both the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity and the effective saturated hydraulic conductivity of a partly frozen soil for rigid soil matrix conditions. This approach is compared with the Mualem concept for predicting unsaturated hydraulic conductivities. Fractures were observed due to freezing cracks in case of loamy material. For fractured soils the calibration with a skinfactor is found to be absolutely necessary to give reliable results.