Water Flow in Soil Macropores I. An Experimental Approach

Summary A method is proposed by which the volume of the macropore system and its effect on the infiltration capacity can be estimated using a soil water potential concept. The macropore systems of two large and undisturbed soil samples were investigated. The volumes of macropores were 0.01 and 0.045 of the sample volumes, respectively. When the samples were drained from full saturation to the point where it may be assumed that there was no more water in the macropore system, the hydraulic conductivity decreased by factors of 18 and 4.3 respectively.