A new BEST algorithm for determining soil saturated hydrodynamic parameters without measuring soil water content

Abstract

The Beerkan Estimation of Soil Transfer parameters (BEST) algorithms allow estimation of soil sorptivity, and saturated soil hydraulic conductivity, using the transient and steady-state stages of a three-dimensional infiltration process. However, these algorithms can only be applied to the cases that the initial and the saturated water content values are known. The aim of this work is to propose a new BEST algorithm yielding estimates of soil sorptivity and saturated hydraulic conductivity even in absence of soil water content data. By applying the existing and the new BEST algorithms to infiltration curves simulated by an analytical model, the accuracy of estimated soil sorptivity and saturated hydraulic conductivity parameters was determined. Both the existing and the new algorithms allowed estimation of these hydrodynamic parameters with a good degree of accuracy.