Use of a novel new irrigation system to observe and model water vapor flow through dry soils

In dry soils hydraulic connectivity within the liquid water phase decreases and vapor flow becomes a significant transport mechanism for water. The temperature or solute concentration of the liquid phase affects the vapor pressure of the surrounding air, thus temperature or solute gradients can drive vapor flows. However, in extremely dry soils where water is retained by adsorption rather than capillarity, vapor flows can also occur. In such soils tiny changes in water content significantly affect the equilibrium vapor pressure in the soil, and hence small differences in water content can initiate vapor pressure gradients. In many field conditions this effect may be negligible compared to vapor flows driven by other factors. However, flows of this type are particularly significant in a new type of subsurface irrigation system which uses pervaporation, via a polymer tubing, as the mechanism for water supply. In this system, water enters the soil in vapor phase. Experiments using this system therefore provide a rare opportunity to observe vapor flows initiating from a subsurface source without significant injection of heat. A model was developed to simulate water flow through the soil in liquid and vapor phase. In this model it was assumed that the two phases were in equilibrium. The equilibrium relationship was defined by a new mathematical expression that was developed to fit experimental data collected to characterize the sorption isotherm of three soils (sand, saline sand and top soil). The osmotic potential of the saline sand was defined as a function of water content using a continuous mathematical expression. The model was then calibrated to fit the data from laboratory experiments, in which the vapor flow into and out of the soil were quantified. The model successfully reproduced experimental observations of the total water flux, relative humidity and water content distribution in three soil types. This suggests that the model, including the proposed mathematical relationship for the moisture sorption isotherm for a soil, can be used to estimate the condensation and vapor flow within soil when it is exposed to a humid vapor flux.