SIMULATION OF THE PROCESS OF MOISTURE
TRANSFER IN THE ZONE OF AERATION
ON THE BASIS OF THE CAPILLARY POTENTIAL
EQUATION

N. D. Bobarykin

UDC 626.86:517.9(06)

A time-dependent model of the regime of moistening in 
the rootage layer of ameliorated soil is presented. It is based on 
the solution of a differential equation for the capillary potential 
of moisture transfer in the zone of soil aeration. The motion of moisture 
from the surface of groundwater into the layer of active moisture 
transfer of the aeration zone determines the aqueous-physical properties 
of soil, the moisture saturation degree of this layer, and the position 
of the groundwater level. The motion of soil moisture is characterized 
by an unsteady regime in which the moisture content changes not only 
with depth, but also in time.

Kaliningrad State Technical University, 1 Sovetskii Ave., 
Kaliningrad, 236000, Russia. Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii 
Zhurnal, Vol. 80, No. 3, pp. 97-102, May-June, 2007. Original 
article submitted August 26, 2005; revision submitted October 6, 2006.