Methods for the measurement of infiltration

Abstract

The measurement of infiltration has, in recent years, assumed increasing importance as a means of estimating the relative absorptive capacities of soils under different vegetal types or kinds of land use. The utility of infiltration-criteria rests partly on the assumption that surface-runoff in any appreciable volume is deleterious and that it results in movement of soil and in excessive peak-rates of stream-flow. Based on this assumption, a land-use providing maximum infiltration-capacities may be considered optimum for retention and storage of precipitation. In hydrologic investigations, too, a knowledge of relative infiltration-indices may assist greatly in the synthesis of hydrographs, or in the estimation of expected rates of flood-flow in streams. In watershed-management studies, infiltration-indices obtained for soils under several types of plant-cover and land-use are helpful in providing a basis for judgement as to the optimum watershed-conditions for water-yield and erosion-control.

Citation

Wilm, H. G. 1941. Methods for the measurement of infiltration. Transactions, American Geophysical Union. 22: 678-685.