Vadose Zone Hydrology

Theory of flow in porous media. Derivation of flow equations, boundary conditions. The hydraulic characteristics of the porous medium. The theory of capillary models. Determination of hydraulic characteristics, optimization of parameters of retention curves, prediction of hydraulic conductivity. Numerical methods to solve flow equations. Elementary processes of water flow in subsurface. Solute transport. Miscible flow, conservative flow, advection, dispersion, dispersion characteristics. Reactive transport. Description of fundamental chemical reactions, equilibrium and kinetic models. Universal transport equations, boundary conditions. Determination of dispersion characteristics. Multiphase flow (non-aqueous phase liquids). Soil heterogeneity. Flow and transport of substances in soils exhibiting preferential flow. Simulation models and their applications. Modeling of soil water regime in engineering and environmental problems.

Bear, J., & Cheng, A. H., Modeling groundwater flow and contaminant transport, Springer, 2010.

Hillel, D., Environmental soil physics. Amsterdam, Academic Press, 2009.

Jury, W. A., & Horton, R., Soil physics. Hoboken, NJ: J. Wiley., 2004.