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Investigation of wetting front behavior due to rainfall and ponding head effects in arid region wadi alluvium

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Abstract

Intensive experimental as well as numerical investigations have been carried out in order to develop empirical relationships to predict wetting front travel time and infiltration rate in deep arid region alluvium due to the effect of variable rainfall intensity and ponding head, respectively. A rainfall simulator that is capable of producing variable rainfall intensity up to 160 mm/h and a large diameter infiltrometer were constructed in the study area and then used to test the effect of rainfall and ponding head up to a depth of 3 m. Results of these experiments were utilized to calibrate an unsaturated zone model which was then used to test different scenarios for wetting front movement at depths beyond the scope of these experiments. Empirical infiltration relationships for rainfall and ponding head, respectively, were derived for shallow and deep soil columns from these experiments.

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Acknowledgement

The work done in this paper has been carried out as part of a project entitled “Rehabilitation of galleries of Zubaidah”, supported by the Governor Office of Makkah Al-Mukarammah Area. The authors would like to express their great gratitude to the office and Dr. Omar Aburizaiza for their financial and logistical support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hydrogeology, Faculty of Earth Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, PO Box 109840, Jeddah, 21351, Saudi Arabia

    A. S. El-Hames

  2. Department of Hydrology, Faculty of Meteorology, Environment and Arid Land Agriculture, King Abdulaziz University, PO Box 80208, Jeddah, 21589, Saudi Arabia

    A. S. Al-Wagdany

Authors
  1. A. S. El-Hames
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  2. A. S. Al-Wagdany
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Correspondence to A. S. El-Hames.

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El-Hames, A.S., Al-Wagdany, A.S. Investigation of wetting front behavior due to rainfall and ponding head effects in arid region wadi alluvium. Arab J Geosci 6, 1499–1507 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-011-0457-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-011-0457-6

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