Field Data and Water-Balance Predictions for a Monolithic Cover in a Semiarid Climate
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 135, Issue 3
Abstract
Water-balance predictions made using four codes (UNSAT-H, VADOSE/W, HYDRUS, and LEACHM) are compared with water-balance data from a test section located in a semiarid climate simulating a monolithic water-balance cover. The accuracy of the runoff prediction (underprediction or overprediction) was found to affect the accuracy of all other water-balance quantities. Runoff was predicted more accurately when precipitation was applied uniformly throughout the day, the surface layer was assigned higher saturated hydraulic conductivity, or when Brooks-Corey functions were used to describe the hydraulic properties of the cover soils. However, no definitive or universal recommendation could be identified that would provide reasonable assurance that runoff mechanisms are properly simulated and runoff predictions are accurate. Evapotranspiration and soil-water storage were predicted reasonably well (within ) when runoff was predicted accurately, general mean hydraulic properties were used as input, and the vegetation followed a consistent seasonal transpiration cycle. However, percolation was consistently underpredicted ( total) even when evapotranspiration and soil-water storage were predicted reliably. Better agreement between measured and predicted percolation (or a more conservative prediction) was obtained using mean properties for the soil-water characteristic curve and increasing the saturated hydraulic conductivity of the cover soils by a factor between 5 and 10. Evapotranspiration and soil-water storage were predicted poorly at the end of the monitoring period by all of the codes due to a change in the evapotranspiration pattern that was not captured by the models. The inability to capture such changes is a weakness in current modeling approaches that needs further study.
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Acknowledgments
Financial support for this project was provided by the USEPA Science to Achieve Results (STAR) Program (UNSPECIFIEDGrant No. R-82951501-0) as part of the USEPA’s Rocky Mountain Hazardous Substance Research Center (HSRC), USEPA’s Alternative Cover Assessment Program (ACAP), and the National Science Foundation (NSFGrant No. CMS-0625850). Dr. Mitch Laset is the USEPA program manager for the HSRC and Mr. Steven Rock is the USEPA program manager for ACAP. The software programs used in this study were supplied as in-kind support by Geo-Slope International Ltd. and the University of Wisconsin-Madison Geotechnics Laboratory. The results and opinions expressed in this paper are solely those of the writers. Endorsement by USEPA, NSF, or GeoSlope is not implied and should not be assumed.
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Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 135 • Issue 3 • March 2009
Pages: 333 - 348
Copyright
© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: Sep 13, 2007
Accepted: Apr 23, 2008
Published online: Mar 1, 2009
Published in print: Mar 2009
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