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Infiltration in vegetated soil: empirical modeling and sensitivity analysis

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Abstract

This study mathematically correlates the infiltration rate of vegetated soil with time and demonstrates how to estimate the amount of infiltration in any type of vegetated soil without conducting a field experiment. Vetiver (Vetiveria zizanioides) was planted in two plots: one with cohesive soil and one with cohesionless soil. The infiltration was measured under field conditions for 26 weeks, using the double-ring infiltrometer method. Sixteen analytical equations were carefully chosen to empirically correlate the infiltration rate with time, using the field data; 4 of the 16 were taken from the currently available empirical infiltration equations. The models’ performances were evaluated, based on four statistical parameters: sum of squares due to errors (SSE), R-square, adjusted R-square, and root-mean-square error (RMSE). The accuracy of each equation was determined by the number of times it ranked first for a single week, as well as its cumulative ranking, based on the statistical parameters. The equations’ sensitivity to the seasons, age of vegetation, and soil type were analyzed, and it was revealed that E3 performed the best of all of the equations. Occasions where other equations outperformed E3 were critically examined, based on the E3 coefficient values, and their performances were validated by data from another study. It was concluded that the performance of the equations may show sensitivity to the type of vegetation, geographic location, and climatic condition.

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Data availability

The datasets generated and/or analyzed by the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Abbreviations

ANFIS:

Adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system

ANN:

Artificial neural network

ASTM:

American Society for Testing and Materials

BS:

Bare soil

FCR:

Flux–concentration relation

FM:

Fineness modulus

NOT:

Number of terms

RMSE:

Root-mean-square error

SL No.:

Serial number

SSE:

Sum of squares due to error

TCA:

Time condensation approximation

USCS:

Unified soil classification system

USDA:

United States Department of Agriculture

VS:

Vegetated soil

C c :

Coefficient of curvature

C u :

Coefficient of uniformity

D 50 :

Median diameter

i :

Infiltration rate

i o :

Initial infiltration rate

i f :

Stable infiltration rate

N :

Number of times an equation was ranked as the best

t :

Time

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Funding

This research was supported by the Academic Research Grant of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Water and Flood Management (IWFM), Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka, 1000, Bangladesh

    Md. Enayet Chowdhury

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka, 1000, Bangladesh

    Mohammad Shariful Islam, Tahsina Alam, Sagar Barua, Md. Safin Shahriar & Humaira Anisa

Authors
  1. Md. Enayet Chowdhury
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  2. Mohammad Shariful Islam
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  3. Tahsina Alam
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  4. Sagar Barua
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  5. Md. Safin Shahriar
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  6. Humaira Anisa
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Correspondence to Md. Enayet Chowdhury.

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Appendix A. Statistical parameters

Appendix A. Statistical parameters

See Table 6.

Table 6 Statistical parameters with the equations, used in this study
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Chowdhury, M.E., Islam, M.S., Alam, T. et al. Infiltration in vegetated soil: empirical modeling and sensitivity analysis. Model. Earth Syst. Environ. 7, 547–559 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40808-020-00867-x

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