merged

Estimation of Unsaturated Hydraulic Conductivity in Unsaturated Soil
through Experiment
Ong Sin Tian
Supervisor: Dr. Sunny Goh Eng Giap
Bachelor of Technology (Environment)
School of Ocean Engineering
Universiti Malaysia Terengganu
Unsaturated hydraulic conductivity is the measurement of soil’s water-retaining ability
in unsaturated soil. It is one of the unknown parameters, mainly because of the
possibility of erroneous description of hydraulic properties in the dry range. This study
aimed to estimate the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity through experiment. To
achieve the aim, an experimental setup was designed and fabricated in order to
measure the volumetric water content using GS3 sensors. The data obtained was
validated and used to estimate the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity with the help of
mathematical equation and computer application. The primary materials used in the
study were solute-free water and sand. The open sand column with 5 GS3 sensors
was weighted from time to time in order to obtain the data of water loss. The
successfulness in the estimation was expected to be helpful to improve simulation in
agricultural and engineering application.
85 | U M T U N D E R G R A D U A T E R E S E A R C H D A Y 2019