Li et al. (2025) The Spatial and Temporal Variability of Soil-Water Evaporation as Influenced by Near-Surface Soil Porosities

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Agronomy
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-11-19
• Authors: Lijie Li, Yili Lu, Lin Liu, Xiaoting Xie
• DOI: 10.3390/agronomy15112654

Research Groups

Not specified in the provided text.

Short Summary

This study investigated the specific mechanisms by which soil porosity influences the spatial and temporal variability of soil water evaporation under transient field conditions. It found that higher porosity leads to earlier and greater daily peak evaporation, with a 7% increase in porosity resulting in an 18% increase in cumulative evaporation.

Objective

• To address the research gap regarding the specific mechanisms for porosity (n) affecting the spatial and temporal variability of soil water evaporation (E) under transient field conditions.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Millimeter-scale (0–21 mm in high porosity soil, 0–15 mm in low porosity soil).
• Temporal Scale: Continuous, high-frequency observations over an unspecified period, focusing on daily dynamics.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Not applicable; the study is observational.
• Data sources: Continuous, high-frequency, millimeter-scale observations of soil temperature, thermal properties, and evaporation dynamics using 11-needle heat pulse sensors. Data collected from bare loamy sand and sandy loam soils with high and low porosity treatments.

Main Results

• Soil evaporation primarily occurred within the 0–21 mm layer in high porosity plots and 0–15 mm layer in low porosity plots.
• Despite porosity differences of 7% (Experiment 1: 0.52 vs. 0.56) and 8% (Experiment 2: 0.47 vs. 0.51), distinct temporal dynamics and spatial progression patterns of evaporation were observed.
• In high porosity plots, daily peak evaporation consistently occurred earlier and exhibited greater magnitude across all depth increments compared to low porosity plots.
• In low porosity plots, the evaporation process persisted longer within each depth increment before transitioning to deeper soil layers.
• A 7% increase in porosity corresponded to an 18% increase in cumulative evaporation.

Contributions

• Provides novel insights into the specific mechanisms by which soil porosity influences the spatial and temporal variability of soil water evaporation under transient field conditions.
• Emphasizes the critical importance of considering porosity variations for accurate modeling and interpretation of broader hydrologic and environmental processes.

Funding

Not specified in the provided text.

Citation

@article{Li2025Spatial,
  author = {Li, Lijie and Lu, Yili and Liu, Lin and Xie, Xiaoting},
  title = {The Spatial and Temporal Variability of Soil-Water Evaporation as Influenced by Near-Surface Soil Porosities},
  journal = {Agronomy},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.3390/agronomy15112654},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15112654}
}