To model the water flow and solute transport in soils, hydrodynamic and hydrodispersive parameters are required as input data in the mathematical models. The axisymmetric infiltration experiment using a single-ring infiltrometer with a conservative tracer (KCl) is a simple and efficient method for the determination of these parameters in the field. The objective of this study was to characterize hydrodynamic and hydrodispersive parameters of some soils in a marshy region, in Areia-PB, in the field, based on single-ring infiltration tests. The experiments were conducted in an area with common bean, in a 50 x 50 m grid. Saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) and sorptivity (S) were estimated by analysis of three- dimensional axisymmetric infiltration for short and long periods. The inert solute (Cl-) was used to calculate the mobile water fraction Φ, by measuring solute concentration in the 0-15 cm layer at the end of the infiltration experiment. A numerical model of solute transfer based on the concept of convection-dispersion (CD) was used to determine the transport parameters (D and R). Single-ring infiltrometry proved to be a simple and efficient method to obtain the hydrodynamic and hydrodispersive parameters. A good agreement was observed between measured and calculated values (v, D and R) with the model CD, based on the coefficients of determination (r²).
solute transport; axisymmetric infiltration; CXTFIT 2.0; single-ring infiltrometer
