Evaporation front and its motion

Abstract

The evaporation demands upon a rock or soil surface can exceed the ability of the profile to bring a sufficient amount of liquid water. A dry surface layer arises in the porous medium that enables just water vapor flow to the surface. The interface between the dry and wet parts of the profile is known as the evaporation front. The paper gives the exact definition of the evaporation front and studies its motion. A set of differential equations governing the front motion in space is formulated. Making use of a set of measured and chosen values, a problem is formulated that illustrates the obtained theory. The problem is solved numerically, and the results are presented and discussed.