In this paper, the constant head well per-meameter (CHWP) theory is extended analytically to account for the effects of unsaturated flow. This results in a more accurate estimate of the field-saturated hydraulic conductivity and in new methods for in situ estimation of the soil sorptivity and the α parameter of the exponential hydraulic conductivity-pressure head function. Calculations using the extended CHWP theory and “average”sand, loam, and clay soils indicate that the original CHWP theory is only slightly in error for soils exhibiting weak capillarity, but can be substantially in error for soils exhibiting strong capillarity. The extended theory successfully predicts results of previous numerical investigations of the CHWP method.
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Reynolds et al. (1985) studied this question.