Soil Properties as Indicators of Soil Water Regime: A Review

• Published in: Eurasian soil science 2023-03, Vol.56 (3), p.306-320
• Main Authors: Smirnova, M. A., Kozlov, D. N.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Analysis; Clay minerals; Diagnostic systems; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Environmental changes; Environmental factors; Environmental monitoring; Evaporation; Evapotranspiration; Geotechnical Engineering & Applied Earth Sciences; Hydrology; Indicators; Laboratories; Mathematical analysis; Mathematical models; Methods; Modelling; Moisture content; Runoff; Soil moisture; Soil Physics; Soil profiles; Soil properties; Soil water movement; Transpiration; Water
• ISSN: 1064-2293; 1556-195X
• DOI: 10.1134/S1064229322602396

— Water movement in soils contributes to the formation of a number of specific soil properties; their interpretation makes it possible to characterize the features of particular hydrological processes and the soil water regime in general, which is important because of the limited possibilities to conduct direct monitoring of soil water movement. In this review, we consider the diagnostic indicators of mineral soils determined in the field and under laboratory conditions and characterized by different formation times and tolerance toward changes in the environmental factors. Field methods for diagnosing soil water regime make it possible to formulate hypotheses about the features of water behavior within the soil profile, which can later be confirmed or refuted as a result of laboratory diagnostic methods, regime observations, and physical and mathematical modeling. In particular, on the basis of a standard field description of soils, it is possible to identify the zone of maximum water turnover, parts of the soil profile with constant or periodic water stagnation, and the capillary fringe level. Clay coatings, root channels, and burrows of soil animals mark the preferential flows. Laboratory diagnostic methods are aimed at assessing the quantitative ratio of hydrological processes in the soil; basically, they allow to characterize the source, duration, and intensity of the period of soil overmoistening. The Schwertmann coefficient is the most commonly used and efficient analytical indicator for diagnosing soil overmoistening, which has been shown for a wide range of soils. Verification of the results of hydrological modeling on the basis of data on soil properties is potentially possible for the processes of downward and lateral runoff, physical evaporation, transpiration, evapotranspiration, and capillary rise of soil water.