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Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., 2, 1087-1105, 2005
www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci-discuss.net/2/1087/2005/
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Do effective properties for unsaturated weakly layered porous media exist? An experimental study.

A. Bayer1, H.-J. Vogel1, O. Ippisch2, and K. Roth1
1Institute of Environmental Physics, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 229, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
2Interdisciplinary Center for Scientific Computing, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 368, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany

Abstract. In a multi-step outflow experiment we found that a weak heterogeneity within a sand column prevents the estimated effective hydraulic parameters from being objective. We compared vertical water content profiles calculated from these parameters with profiles measured by X-ray attenuation. A layered material model based on X-ray data was able to reproduce the outflow curve and also the internal behavior of the column. We also calculated effective parameters for the heterogeneous model turned upside down and obtained large differences to the set of values of the original sample.

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Citation: Bayer, A., Vogel, H.-J., Ippisch, O., and Roth, K.: Do effective properties for unsaturated weakly layered porous media exist? An experimental study., Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., 2, 1087-1105, 2005.   Bibtex   EndNote   Reference Manager