Comparison of Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity Measured by Various Field Methods

Field experiments were conducted to compare the saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks ) measured by four different techniques: Double Ring Infiltrometer (RI), Rainfall Simulator (RS), Guelph Permeameter (GP), and Guelph Infiltrometer (GI). Ks values obtained with the RI and GP were statistically the same, but were significantly lower than those determined by the RS and GI methods. The Ks values obtained with the GP and the GI have greater variability than those obtained with the RI and RS methods. The GP and GI methods require a larger number of measurements (as compared to the RI and the RS methods) to achieve a mean Ks value exhibiting a comparable standard error of estimate.