Saturday, 15 July 2006
137-31

Gas Transport Parameters along Field Transects of a Volcanic Ash Soil.

Augustus Resurreccion1, Toshiko Komatsu1, Ken Kawamoto2, Per Moldrup3, and Dennis Rolston4. (1) Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Saitama Univ, 255 Shimo-okubo, Sakura-ku, Saitama, 338-8570, Japan, (2) Dept of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Saitama Univ, 255 Shimo-okubo, Sakura-ku, Saitama, 338-8570, Japan, (3) Environmental Engineering Section, Dept of Life Sciences, Aalborg Univ, Sohngaardsholmsvej, Aalborg, DK9000, Denmark, (4) Dept of Land, Air, and Water Resources, Univ of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616

Variations in gas transport parameters at the field scale govern the transport, fate and emission of greenhouse gases and volatile organic chemicals in soil. In this study, we analyzed spatial variability and evaluated predictive models for soil-gas diffusivity (Dp) and air permeability (ka) based on measurements along a 117-m long transect and a parallel 33-m short transect of a volcanic ash soil (Andisol) in Nishi-Tokyo, Japan. Measurements were done on 100-cm3 undisturbed soil samples, with 3-m spacing between sampling points, and included water retention, Dp and ka at different soil-water matric potentials, and saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks). Traditionally-used gas diffusivity models including the Millington-Quirk and Buckingham-Burdine-Campbell (BBC) models underestimated Dp at field capacity moisture content (~-100 cm H2O matric potential) and largely over-estimated Dp under very dry conditions, likely due to effects of soil aggregation. A simple linear model (Penman-Call) for Dp as a function of air-filled porosity (e), taking into account inactive air-filled pore volume (ein), accurately described Dp from wet to oven-dry conditions, and well captured the spatial variations in Dp along the transects. Air permeability also exhibited an almost linear increase with e but data showed no evidence of ein effects, and ka was best predicted from a newly presented power-law model (Kawamoto-Alexander) with ka at -100 cm H2O matric potential as the measured reference point. Trends of decreasing soil-water retention and increasing e and Dp were observed along the transects. Similar trends in ka and Ks were not observed, likely due to that the convective fluid transport parameters were mainly governed by soil structure instead of fluid phase contents. Autocorrelograms suggested a spatial correlation range of 10-20 m for all three transport parameters (Dp, ka, Ks). Also, Ks was highly correlated with ka at -100 cm H2O matric potential. Measurements of e and ka at around -100 cm H2O matric potential (field capacity moisture conditions) are recommended for rapid assessment of magnitude and spatial variations in gas and water transport properties at the field scale.


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