Analysis of water vapor adsorption in soils by means of a lysimeter and numerical modeling

Abstract

Abstract Daily temperature oscillations can cause adsorption (and desorption) of atmospheric water vapor by soils. The resulting daily fluctuations in the amount of liquid water in the soil can be measured by high‐precision weighing lysimeters. We analyzed the data of a lysimeter in a sandy dune sediment in southern Spain using Codebright, a thermohydraulic numerical model for unsaturated flow that takes into account water, vapor, and heat transport in the soil, as well as soil–atmosphere interactions such as precipitation, evaporation, and solar radiation. The analysis shows that daily temperature oscillations, psychrometrics, and soil water retention can explain the fluctuations of the amount of liquid water in the soil. The retention curve, especially its driest part, is essential for the existence of these fluctuations. The fluctuations could not be reproduced by a model using the van Genuchten retention curve with a constant residual saturation. On the other hand, satisfactory results could be obtained by models using retention curves that at their driest part still show a change of saturation with suction. Moreover, the models suggest within the top few decimeters of the soil a pattern of alternating bands of condensation and evaporation, which follows the daily temperature oscillations that fade out deeper in the soil.