Prepared by:

Labusnog, Marlowe L.
By the end of this lecture, the student must be
able to:
 define what is infiltration and the different
terminologies for subsurface waters.
 describe how water flows thru the soil and
the different factors that affect the infiltration
process.
 apply the different infiltration models to
measure the infiltration rate and cumulative
infiltration.
Source: Chow et al. (1988)
 Infiltration
 Process of water penetrating into the soil
 Subsurface flow (unsaturated flow)
 Flow through a porous medium when some of the
voids are occupied by air
 Groundwater flow (saturated flow)
 Flow at which the voids are filled water
 Water table
 The interface between the saturated and
unsaturated flow, where atmospheric pressure
prevails.
Cross – section through an unsaturated
porous medium (Mays, 2010)
Control volume for development of the continuity equation in an
unsaturated porous medium (Mays, 2010)
 Continuity Equation:

 Continuity equation for one – dimensional unsteady

unsaturated flow in porous medium:

 Darcy’s Law:
 Total head = suction head + gravity head:

 Darcy’s Law:

 Soil water diffusivity D(L2/T):

 One – dimensional Richard’s equation:

Problem 1. Figure 4.1.5 (b) (handout) shows the profiles
through time of soil moisture head, h, with vertical lines at
weekly intervals. Calculate the soil moisture flux between
0.8m and 1.0m at weekly intervals using the relationship
K = 250(-ψ)-2.11, where K is the hydraulic conductivity
(cm/day) and ψ is soil suction head (cm). (Note: h = ψ +
z). The moisture flux is computed for week 1.
Source: Chow et al. (1988)
• Infiltration – is the process of water penetrating
from the ground surface into the soil.
• Factors that influence the infiltration rate
 Condition of the soil surface & its vegetative cover
 the properties of the soil (e.g. porosity & hydraulic
conductivity)
 Current moisture content of the soil
Source: Mays (2010)
Source: Chow et al. (1988)
Source: Subramanya (2008)
 Infiltration capacity, fp, f(t) (length/time)– maximum
rate at which the given soil at a given time can absorb
water (length/time)
 Field capacity – the volume of water that the ground
can hold
 The actual rate of infiltration f can be expressed as
f = fp when i ≥ fp
f = i when i < fp
where i = intensity of rainfall. The infiltration capacity of a
soil is high at the beginning of a storm and has an
exponential decay as the time elapses.
Rainfall infiltration rate & Cumulative
infiltration (Mays, 2010)
Source: Subramanya (2008)
 Infiltration begins at some rate f0 and exponentially decreases
until it reaches a constant rate fc:

𝒌𝒕
𝒄 𝟎 𝒄

𝟎 𝒄
𝒄
where:
f0 = initial rate of infiltration capacity
fc = final constant rate of infiltration at saturation
k = a constant depending primarily upon soil & vegetation
e = base of the Napierian logarithm
Fc = shaded area (Fig. 3.6)
t = time from beginning of the storm
Source: Subramanya (2008)
The Horton’s infiltration equation for a basin is given by
f = 6 + 16e-2t where f is in mm/hr, t is in hrs. If a storm
occurs on this basin with an intensity of more than 22
mm/hr. Determine the depth of infiltration for the first
45 mins. and the average infiltration rate for the first 75
mins.
 Determine the best values of the parameters of
Horton’s infiltration capacity equation for the
following data pertaining to infiltration tests on a soil
using double ring infiltrometer.
Time since start Cum. infiltration
(min.) depth (mm)
0
5 21.00
10 36.00
15 47.60
25 56.90
40 63.80
60 69.80
75 74.80
90 79.30
110 87.00
130 92.00
 Incremental Infiltration
Time since start Cum. infiltration
depth in the capacity, f p Ln (f p - f c ) Time in hours
(min.) depth (mm)
interval (mm) (mm/h)
0
5 21.00 21.00 252.00 5.4553 0.0833
10 36.00 15.00 180.00 5.0876 0.1667
15 47.60 11.60 139.20 4.7974 0.2500
25 56.90 9.30 55.80 3.6323 0.4167
40 63.80 6.90 27.60 2.2618 0.6667
60 69.80 6.00 18.00 1.0000
75 74.80 5.00 20.00 1.2500
90 79.30 4.50 18.00 1.5000
110 87.00 7.70 23.10 1.8333
130 92.00 5.00 15.00 2.1667

fc = 18.00
Note: The obtained coefficients from MSExcel is
slightly different when using manual computations.
That is due to the rounding – off of values. You may
also use fc = 15mm/h since it is the lowest
computed value for the infiltration capacity.
• The cumulative infiltration F(t) can be approximated by

where
S = sorpitivity, w/c is a function of the soil suction
potential
K = hydraulic conductivity
• As t → ∞, f(t) tends to K
• The two terms in Philip’s equation represent the effects
of soil suction head and gravity head, respectively.
• For a horizontal column of soil, soil suction is the only
force drawing water into column, hence
• The data is plotted as ln (Fp) vs ln (t) on an arithmetic
graph paper and the best fit straight through the plotted
points gives ln (a) as intercept and the slope is b. Note
that b is a positive quantity such that 0 < b < 1.
 Determine the best values of the parameters of
Philips infiltration capacity equation and Kostiakov’s
formulat for the following data pertaining to
infiltration tests on a soil using double ring
infiltrometer. Time since start Cum. infiltration
(min.) depth (mm)
0
5 21.00
10 36.00
15 47.60
25 56.90
40 63.80
60 69.80
75 74.80
90 79.30
110 87.00
130 92.00
where: η = porosity of the soil
Sc = capillary suction at the wetting front
K = Darcy’s hydraulic conductivity
m & n = Green – Ampt parameters
Source: Chow, et al. (1988)
Source: Chow, et al. (1988)
 Green – Ampt Infiltration rate

 Green – Ampt Cumulative Infiltration

 Green – Ampt Parameters

𝒓
𝒆 𝒆 𝒆
𝒓

𝒓 𝒆 𝒆 𝒆
 Brooks and Corey Equation
𝝀
𝒃
𝒆
 When t ≤ tp; tp is the ponding time f = i

𝒑 𝒑 𝒑
 When t > tp and i > f

𝒑 𝒑
𝒑
Source: Chow, et al. (1988)
Source: HEC-HMS Technical Reference Manual
Source: Chow, et al. (1988)
Source: Chow, et al. (1988)
• Compute the infiltration rate f and cumulative
infiltration F after one hour of infiltration into a silt loam
soil that initially had an effective saturation of 30
percent. Assume water is ponded to a small but
negligible depth on the surface.
• From the previous problem, for a silt loam soil =
5.68cm and K = 0.65 cm/h. Compute the ponding time
and the accumulated infiltration for i = 1cm/h and i =
5cm/h, respectively.
• In addition, calculate the cumulative infiltration and the
infiltration rate after one hour of rainfall of intensity
5cm/h on a silt loam soil with an initial effective
saturation of 30 percent.
Bedient, et al. (2013). Hydrology and Floodplain Analysis.
Pearson Education Limited. England.
Chow, et al.(1988). Applied Hydrology. McGraw-Hill Book
Co. Singapore.
Mays, L.W. (2011). Water Resources Engineering. John
Wiley & Sons, Inc. USA.
Subramanya, K. (2008). Engineering Hydrology. Tata
McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited. India.
HEC-HMS Technical Reference Manual