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Tillage and rainfall effects on infiltration and predictive applicability of infiltration equations

Abstract:

Infiltration into freshly tilled soils is influenced by the type and degree of surface roughness and plough layer porosity, both of which often change with time as a result of the impact of cumulative rainfall amount. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of rainfall and tillage-induced surface roughness and total porosity on infiltration. This was done by simulating five 150-min rain storms, applied every 24 hours at a constant rate of 70 mm h−1, on micro-catchments taken from freshly ploughed, harrowed, and rolled soils and from an untilled soil. The results showed that infiltration into the freshly tilled soils was more strongly associated with the degree and stability of the initial tillage-induced micro-structure at the surface than the hydraulic conditions and properties of the underlying layers. The curve analysis of the infiltration data to six infiltration equations showed that infiltration into the freshly tilled soils was best described by exponentially decaying functions in which surface, rather than profile, conditions, and properties, control the process. © 1993 Williams and Wilkins.