Eur. Phys. J. E (2014) 37: 97
https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2014-14097-x

Regular Article

Rain water transport and storage in a model sandy soil with hydrogel particle additives

¹ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, 19104-6396, Philadelphia, PA, USA
² Complex Assemblies of Soft Matter, CNRS-Rhodia-UPenn UMI 3254, 19007-3624, Bristol, PA, USA

^* e-mail: djdurian@physics.upenn.edu

Received: 4 September 2014
Accepted: 1 October 2014
Published online: 27 October 2014

Abstract

We study rain water infiltration and drainage in a dry model sandy soil with superabsorbent hydrogel particle additives by measuring the mass of retained water for non-ponding rainfall using a self-built 3D laboratory set-up. In the pure model sandy soil, the retained water curve measurements indicate that instead of a stable horizontal wetting front that grows downward uniformly, a narrow fingered flow forms under the top layer of water-saturated soil. This rain water channelization phenomenon not only further reduces the available rain water in the plant root zone, but also affects the efficiency of soil additives, such as superabsorbent hydrogel particles. Our studies show that the shape of the retained water curve for a soil packing with hydrogel particle additives strongly depends on the location and the concentration of the hydrogel particles in the model sandy soil. By carefully choosing the particle size and distribution methods, we may use the swollen hydrogel particles to modify the soil pore structure, to clog or extend the water channels in sandy soils, or to build water reservoirs in the plant root zone.