Infiltration on sloping surfaces: Laboratory experimental evidence and implications for infiltration modeling

Infiltration on sloping surfaces occupies an important role in our understanding of surface and subsurface hydrology. Previous studies have provided conflicting results about the role of slope on infiltration. Here, our main objective is to highlight, by well-controlled experiments, the slope role in the absence of the conflicting contributions generated by other physical processes observed in previous studies under natural or laboratory conditions. The experimental program was designed to resolve some of the confounding factors such as lower impermeable boundary condition, range of rainfall rates relative to soil saturated hydraulic conductivity, surface sealing, and erosion of top soil. The experimental apparatus consists of a box containing a natural bare soil with slope angle γ chosen between 0° and 10°, two sensors of surface and deep flow, one probe for moisture content and an artificial rainfall generator. The primary experimental results suggest that under steady conditions and rainfall rate, r, greater than saturated hydraulic conductivity, Ks, the deep flow, Qd, decreases with increasing slope angle, γ, up to a value leading to Qd(γ= 1°)/. Qd(γ= 10°) equal to ≈4 which is in contrast with the results provided in a few earlier papers. Furthermore, in sloping bare soils surface runoff is produced even for r<. Ks. Finally, we discuss the link between Qd(γ) and the shear stress at the soil surface as a guideline in the determination of an effective saturated hydraulic conductivity to be incorporated in the existing horizontal infiltration models.