This document provides an overview of basic soil and water relations concepts for an irrigation and drainage engineering course. It defines terms like total soil volume, bulk density, porosity, moisture content, specific gravity, and depth of water. Equations are given for calculating moisture content on a dry weight and volume basis, bulk and particle density, apparent and real specific gravity, depth of water present in soil, depth of water needed, and volume of irrigation water required.
This document provides an overview of basic soil and water relations concepts for an irrigation and drainage engineering course. It defines terms like total soil volume, bulk density, porosity, moisture content, specific gravity, and depth of water. Equations are given for calculating moisture content on a dry weight and volume basis, bulk and particle density, apparent and real specific gravity, depth of water present in soil, depth of water needed, and volume of irrigation water required.
This document provides an overview of basic soil and water relations concepts for an irrigation and drainage engineering course. It defines terms like total soil volume, bulk density, porosity, moisture content, specific gravity, and depth of water. Equations are given for calculating moisture content on a dry weight and volume basis, bulk and particle density, apparent and real specific gravity, depth of water present in soil, depth of water needed, and volume of irrigation water required.
This document provides an overview of basic soil and water relations concepts for an irrigation and drainage engineering course. It defines terms like total soil volume, bulk density, porosity, moisture content, specific gravity, and depth of water. Equations are given for calculating moisture content on a dry weight and volume basis, bulk and particle density, apparent and real specific gravity, depth of water present in soil, depth of water needed, and volume of irrigation water required.
Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering
Lecture Notes for AE 31 (Irrigation and Drainage Engineering)
Lecturer: Engr. Mary Angeline O. Napay, MSAEn
BASIC SOIL AND WATER RELATIONS
Total volume of soil VT and total weight or mass of soil WT:
VT = Vv + Vs
Where : VV = Va + Vw
WT = Wa +Ww + Ws
Where: VT = total or bulk volume of the soil (volume units: cm3, m3) Va = volume occupied by air Vw= volume occupied by water Vs= volume occupied by soil particles VV =volume occupied by voids or void volume WT = total wet weight of the soil (weight units: g, kg) Wa = weight of air (negligible, assumed 0) Ww= weight of water Ws= dry weight of the soil particles
Soil Texture - refers to the size of the soil particles, sand silt clay Soil Structure - refers to the shape and arrangement of the soil particles and voids Porosity (n) – the ratio of the void volume to the total soil volume (unit less)
𝑽𝑽 𝑽𝒂 + 𝑽𝒘 𝑽𝑻 − 𝑽𝑺 𝒏= = = 𝑽𝑻 𝑽𝑻 𝑽𝑻
Moisture contents (unit less)
on a dry weight basis (mc w) – the ratio of the weight of water to the dry weight of the soil on a volume basis or volumetric moisture content (mc v) – the ratio of the volume of water to the total soil volume Vw mc v = VT
Densities (units: g/cm3, kg/m3)
Bulk density (ρB) – the ratio of the dry weight of the soil to the total soil volume
Ws ρB = VT
Particle density (ρP) - the ratio of the dry weight of the soil to the volume of the soil particles Ws ρP = Vs Specific Gravities (unit less)
Apparent Specific Gravity (As) – ratio of the bulk density of the soil with the density of water; it is the ratio of the weight of soil to the weight of water with volume equal to the total soil volume ρB Ws As = = ρw ρ w VT
Real Specific Gravity (Rs) – ratio of the particle density of the soil with the density of water; it is the ratio of the weight of soil to the weight of water with volume equal to the volume of the soil particles alone
ρP Ws Rs = = ρw ρ w VS
Depth of water
a. Depth of water present in the soil (dw) (units: mm, cm, m, in) - the equivalent depth of water in the soil at a given condition dw = mcv x D dw = mcw x As x D
Where: D – depth of crop root zone or depth or height of soil column under consideration
b. Depth of water needed (dwn) - to increase the moisture content from an initial value (mci) to a final value (mc f)
dwn = (mcvf – mcvi) x D
dwn = (mcwf-mcwi) x As x D
Where: mcvf - final soil volumetric moisture content
mcvi - initial soil volumetric moisture content mcwf - final soil moisture content on dry weight basis mcwi - initial soil volumetric on dry weight basis
Volume of irrigation water (V iw) – volume of water to be applied to increase the soil moisture content from an initial to final value (units: liters, cm3, m3)
Viw = dwn x A
Where: A – area of the land in consideration
NOTE: Density of water, ρw = 1 g/cm3 or 1,000 kg/m3 The following relationships hold true:
