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| [[File:Wrc.svg|thumb|300px|right|Water retention curve for a sand, clay loam, clay, and peat.]]
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| '''Water retention curve''' is the relationship between the [[water content]], θ, and the soil [[water potential]], ψ. This curve is characteristic for different types of soil, and is also called the '''soil moisture characteristic'''.
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| It is used to predict the soil water storage, water supply to the plants ([[field capacity]]) and soil aggregate stability. Due to the [[Hysteresis#Matric potential hysteresis|hysteretic]] effect of water filling and draining the pores, different wetting and drying curves may be distinguished.
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| The general features of a water retention curve can be seen in the figure, in which the volume water content, θ, is plotted against the matric potential, <math>\Psi_m</math>. At potentials close to zero, a soil is close to saturation, and water is held in the soil primarily by capillary forces. As θ decreases, binding of the water becomes stronger, and at small potentials (more negative, approaching [[wilting point]]) water is strongly bound in the smallest of pores, at contact points between grains and as films bound by adsorptive forces around particles.
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| Sandy soils will involve mainly capillary binding, and will therefore release most of the water at higher potentials, while clayey soils, with adhesive and osmotic binding, will release water at lower (more negative) potentials. At any given potential, peaty soils will usually display much higher moisture contents than clayey soils, which would be expected to hold more water than sandy soils. The water holding capacity of any soil is due to the porosity and the nature of the bonding in the soil.
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| ==Shape parameters==
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| The shape of water retention curves can be characterized by several models, one of them known as the van Genuchten model:<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.2136/sssaj1980.03615995004400050002x |author=van Genuchten, M.Th. |title=A closed-form equation for predicting the hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated soils |journal=Soil Science Society of America Journal |year=1980 |volume=44 |issue=5 |pages=892–898 |url=http://hydro.nevada.edu/courses/gey719/vg.pdf }}</ref>
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| :<math>\theta(\psi) = \theta_r + \frac{\theta_s - \theta_r}{\left[ 1+(\alpha |\psi|)^n \right]^{1-1/n}}</math>
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| where
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| :<math>\theta(\psi)</math> is the water retention curve [L<sup>3</sup>L<sup>−3</sup>];
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| :<math>|\psi|</math> is suction pressure ([L] or cm of water);
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| :<math>\theta_s</math> saturated water content [L<sup>3</sup>L<sup>−3</sup>];
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| :<math>\theta_r</math> residual water content [L<sup>3</sup>L<sup>−3</sup>];
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| :<math>\alpha</math> is related to the inverse of the air entry suction, <math>\alpha >0</math> ([L<sup>−1</sup>], or cm<sup>−1</sup>); and,
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| :<math>n</math> is a measure of the pore-size distribution, <math>n>1</math> (dimensionless).
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| Based on this parametrization a prediction model for the shape of the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity - saturation - pressure relationship was developed.
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| <ref>{{cite journal |author=Mualem, Y. |year=1976 |title=A new model for predicting the hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated porous media |journal=Water Resources Research |volume=12 |pages=513–522 |doi=10.1029/WR012i003p00513 |bibcode = 1976WRR....12..513M |issue=3 }}</ref>
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| ==History==
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| <!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Wrc Buckingham.jpeg|thumb|left|The first published Water retention curve (1907)]] -->
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| In 1907, [[Edgar Buckingham]] created the first water retention curve.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Buckingham |first=E. |title=Water retention in soil |journal=Soil Bulletin |issue=38 | publisher = U.S. Department of Agriculture |year=1907 }}</ref> It was measured and made for six soils varying in texture from sand to clay. The data came from experiments made on soil columns 48 inch tall, where a constant water level maintained about 2 inches above the bottom through periodic addition of water from a side tube. The upper ends were closed to prevent evaporation.
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| ==References==
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| <references/>
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| *{{cite book |last=Brady |first=N.C. |title=The Nature and Properties of Soils |edition=12th |publisher=Prentice-Hall |year=1999 |location=Upper Saddle River, NJ |pages=183–9 |isbn=0-13-852444-0 }}
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| == External links ==
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| * [http://www.ars.usda.gov/Services/docs.htm?docid=8967 UNSODA Model] database of unsaturated soil hydraulic properties
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| * [http://seki.webmasters.gr.jp/swrc/ SWRC Fit] fit soil hydraulic models to soil water retention data
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| [[Category:Soil physics]]
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