On the prediction of hydraulic conductivity of frozen soils

This paper describes a mathematical model for predicting the hydraulic conductivity of partially frozen soils on the basis of limited input data such as grain size distribution and bulk density or porosity. A new model is based on an analogy for the hydraulic conductivity of frozen and unfrozen soils and models for the estimation of hydraulic properties of soils and unfrozen water content. Campbell's model was used for prediction of soil-water characteristics from limited data, while unfrozen water content was obtained from two models (by P.J. Williams and D.M. Anderson) applied to two different temperature ranges. The new model can be used for the rapid estimation of the hydraulic conductivity of practically any freezing soil having log-normal grain size distribution and for computer simulation of moisture migration in soils below the freezing point. An acceptable conformity between the model prediction and measured data for pure sand has been achieved. The computer program developed requires the followi...