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SCHRIFTENREIHE Institut für Pflanzenernährung und Bodenkunde ...

SCHRIFTENREIHE Institut für Pflanzenernährung und Bodenkunde ...

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Coupled water, vapor, and heat movement in the vadose zone is a central<br />

process in many agricultural and engineering issues (Saito et al., 2006).<br />

Especially, in cold and arid regions, snowmelt or lateral water movement on<br />

frozen soil layers have a non-negligible influence on seasonal water balances.<br />

Frozen soil normally reduces infiltration capacity dramatically due to the blocking<br />

effects of ice lenses in soil pores. Consequently, lateral flow and snow melt may<br />

release huge quantities of water in spring and early summer, and cause<br />

substantial surface runoff (Lewkowicz and Kokelj, 2002; Bayard, et al., 2005).<br />

Furthermore, this will increase the risk for soil erosion and nutrient loss. However,<br />

although the former processes are recognized widely, the simulations of snow<br />

hydrology and soil freezing and thawing are rarely done due to limited data<br />

availability to parameterize or validate such models and lack of suitable models<br />

that describe the complex processes during phase changes.<br />

Generally, frozen soils are characterized by the coexistence of ice and water.<br />

Thus it is necessary to simulate the freezing and thawing process by specifically<br />

considering the phase change of ice and water at variable freezing points. Over<br />

the last few decades, two prevalent classes of soil freezing and thawing models,<br />

namely hydrodynamic models (e.g., Harlan, 1973; Flerchinger and Saxton, 1989)<br />

and frost heave models (e.g., Miller, 1980) have been developed. They mainly<br />

differed in the treatment of ice pressure, which is assumed to remain constant in<br />

hydrodynamic models and variable in the frost heave models (Hansson et al.,<br />

2004). As a result, the former offers accurate predictions <strong>und</strong>er saturated<br />

conditions but limits to frost heave, which is reverse for the latter. Regarding the<br />

model’s availability in the unsaturated zone, it is customary to use the<br />

hydrodynamic model in soil science.<br />

Generally, water and energy balances are linked at the soil-atmosphere<br />

interface and controlled by climatic conditions and soil properties. In winter,<br />

snow cover results in low thermal conductivity and high albedo of soil surface,<br />

which greatly impacts soil thermal regime and microclimate. Within the soil,<br />

thermal gradient induces moisture transfer which, in turn, affects heat flow.<br />

Furthermore, soil heat and water regimes may be modified by different land uses<br />

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