Determination of Hydraulic Conductivity Using Tension Infiltrometers in Field Conditions

The methodology for testing soil hydraulic conductivity in field conditions is considered. High spa-tial variability of infiltration properties of gray forest soils is found by the tube method. The differences in hydraulic conductivity coefficients is revealed by tension infiltrometry for loci with high and low water perme-ability conditioned by peculiarities of water transfer in macropores. The methods for calculation of hydraulic conductivity coefficients on the basis of data on the dynamics of infiltrometer water absorption are compared. The most precise method is based on partitioning the characteristics of soil hydraulic conductivity into two constituents representing the conductivity of macro- and micropores.