Methods for measuring soil infiltration: State of the art

Soil infiltration is the process by which water on the soil surface penetrates the soil. Quantifying the soil infiltration capacity (soil infiltrability) is very important for determining components of the hydrological modeling, irrigation design and many other natural or man made processes. In this paper, commonly used methods for soil infiltration rate measurement with their principles and application conditions are introduced. The advantages and disadvantages of each method under various application conditions are discussed for comparison. Three new methods for soil infiltrability measurement, including the corresponding algorithm models, and the experimental apparatus and procedures are introduced. These analyses should facilitate the choice of method used for soil infiltrability measurement.