Scaling the exponential soil-water diffusivity for soils from Ghana

Abstract

Horizontal infiltration experiments were conducted on laboratory packed columns of six tropical soils chosen from two different ecological zones of Ghana, namely, the coastal savannah and the forest regions. Soil-water diffusivities of these soils calculated using the method of Bruce and Klute (1956)were then fitted with an exponential regres sion equation to determine the values of the "Universal" constants, ~, 7 and ~, proposed by Reichardt et al. (1972), Miller and Bresler (1977) and Brutsaert (1979). Values ob tained for ~, 7 and ~ for these soils did not agree with those suggested by Reichardt et al. and Brutsaert thus negating the universality concept proposed by these authors.