Métodos para determinar la conductividad hidráulica saturada y no saturada de los suelos

Abstract

The saturated hydraulic conductivity is a key soil property that controls the infiltration and redistribution processes of water in the soil. It can be determined either at the laboratory or on field conditions. At the laboratory the hydraulic conductivity can be determined on undisturbed core samples, using a constant head permeameter or with a falling head permeameter. However, it is preferable to carry out field measurements due to the difficulties to obtain representative undisturbed samples, the relative small size of the core samples, and the variability of the laboratory determinations, On the field, the measurements can be carried out either below the groundwater table (saturated conditions), or above the groundwater level (unsaturated conditions). The most common methods and equipments used for measuring the soil hydraulic conductivity are described in this work, including: the constant head permeameter, the falling head permeameter, the auger-hole method, the piezometer method, the double ring infiltrometer method, the Guelph permeameter, the tension infiltrometer, and the disc infiltrometer.