New Method for Hydraulic Characterization of Variably Saturated Zone in Peatland-Dominated Permafrost Mires

Modeling peatland hydraulic processes in cold regions requires defining near-surface hydraulic parameters. The current study aims to determine the soil freezing and water characteristic curve parameters for organic soils from peatland-dominated permafrost mires. The three research objectives are as...

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Main Authors: Radhakrishna Bangalore Lakshmiprasad, Stephan Peth, Susanne K. Woche, Thomas Graf
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-11-01
Series:Land
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/12/1990
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author Radhakrishna Bangalore Lakshmiprasad
Stephan Peth
Susanne K. Woche
Thomas Graf
author_facet Radhakrishna Bangalore Lakshmiprasad
Stephan Peth
Susanne K. Woche
Thomas Graf
author_sort Radhakrishna Bangalore Lakshmiprasad
collection DOAJ
description Modeling peatland hydraulic processes in cold regions requires defining near-surface hydraulic parameters. The current study aims to determine the soil freezing and water characteristic curve parameters for organic soils from peatland-dominated permafrost mires. The three research objectives are as follows: (i) Setting up an in situ soil freezing characteristic curve experiment by installing sensors for measuring volumetric water content and temperature in Storflaket mire, Abisko region, Sweden; (ii) Conducting laboratory evaporation experiments and inverse numerical modeling to determine soil water characteristic curve parameters and comparing three soil water characteristic curve models to the laboratory data; (iii) Deriving a relationship between soil freezing and water characteristic curves and optimizing this equation with sensor data from (i). A long-lasting in situ volumetric water content station has been successfully set up in sub-Arctic Sweden. The soil water characteristic curve experiments showed that bimodality also exists for the investigated peat soils. The optimization results of the bimodal relationship showed excellent agreement with the soil freezing cycle measurements. To the best of our knowledge, this is one of the first studies to establish and test bimodality for frozen peat soils. The estimated hydraulic parameters could be used to better simulate permafrost dynamics in peat soils.
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spelling doaj-art-31b894a2181e4736a49d1364932e3dd92024-12-27T14:34:48ZengMDPI AGLand2073-445X2024-11-011312199010.3390/land13121990New Method for Hydraulic Characterization of Variably Saturated Zone in Peatland-Dominated Permafrost MiresRadhakrishna Bangalore Lakshmiprasad0Stephan Peth1Susanne K. Woche2Thomas Graf3Institute of Fluid Mechanics and Environmental Physics in Civil Engineering, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geodetic Science, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Appelstraße 9A, 30167 Hannover, GermanyInstitute of Earth System Sciences, Section—Soil Science, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Herrenhäuser Straße 2, 30419 Hannover, GermanyInstitute of Earth System Sciences, Section—Soil Science, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Herrenhäuser Straße 2, 30419 Hannover, GermanyInstitute of Fluid Mechanics and Environmental Physics in Civil Engineering, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geodetic Science, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Appelstraße 9A, 30167 Hannover, GermanyModeling peatland hydraulic processes in cold regions requires defining near-surface hydraulic parameters. The current study aims to determine the soil freezing and water characteristic curve parameters for organic soils from peatland-dominated permafrost mires. The three research objectives are as follows: (i) Setting up an in situ soil freezing characteristic curve experiment by installing sensors for measuring volumetric water content and temperature in Storflaket mire, Abisko region, Sweden; (ii) Conducting laboratory evaporation experiments and inverse numerical modeling to determine soil water characteristic curve parameters and comparing three soil water characteristic curve models to the laboratory data; (iii) Deriving a relationship between soil freezing and water characteristic curves and optimizing this equation with sensor data from (i). A long-lasting in situ volumetric water content station has been successfully set up in sub-Arctic Sweden. The soil water characteristic curve experiments showed that bimodality also exists for the investigated peat soils. The optimization results of the bimodal relationship showed excellent agreement with the soil freezing cycle measurements. To the best of our knowledge, this is one of the first studies to establish and test bimodality for frozen peat soils. The estimated hydraulic parameters could be used to better simulate permafrost dynamics in peat soils.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/12/1990palsassoil water characteristic curvesoil freezing characteristic curveClausius–Clapeyron equationbimodalitynumerical modeling
spellingShingle Radhakrishna Bangalore Lakshmiprasad
Stephan Peth
Susanne K. Woche
Thomas Graf
New Method for Hydraulic Characterization of Variably Saturated Zone in Peatland-Dominated Permafrost Mires
Land
palsas
soil water characteristic curve
soil freezing characteristic curve
Clausius–Clapeyron equation
bimodality
numerical modeling
title New Method for Hydraulic Characterization of Variably Saturated Zone in Peatland-Dominated Permafrost Mires
title_full New Method for Hydraulic Characterization of Variably Saturated Zone in Peatland-Dominated Permafrost Mires
title_fullStr New Method for Hydraulic Characterization of Variably Saturated Zone in Peatland-Dominated Permafrost Mires
title_full_unstemmed New Method for Hydraulic Characterization of Variably Saturated Zone in Peatland-Dominated Permafrost Mires
title_short New Method for Hydraulic Characterization of Variably Saturated Zone in Peatland-Dominated Permafrost Mires
title_sort new method for hydraulic characterization of variably saturated zone in peatland dominated permafrost mires
topic palsas
soil water characteristic curve
soil freezing characteristic curve
Clausius–Clapeyron equation
bimodality
numerical modeling
url https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/12/1990
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AT susannekwoche newmethodforhydrauliccharacterizationofvariablysaturatedzoneinpeatlanddominatedpermafrostmires
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