Root water uptake is a main source of transpiration in a densely forested slope as subsurface flow mostly occurs in a unsaturated condition.
Considering soil-plant-atmosphere continuum concept, a sink term was introduced, defined by soil depth, root ...
Root water uptake is a main source of transpiration in a densely forested slope as subsurface flow mostly occurs in a unsaturated condition.
Considering soil-plant-atmosphere continuum concept, a sink term was introduced, defined by soil depth, root distribution and soil moisture content, to combine with a physically based model in a unsaturated soil mass. And it was used to explain the root uptake using a finite differential method and tested with a sequential field data.
The sink term represented root and vertical soil water distribution and as the soil moisture decreased, the unsaturated conductivity also decreased and it meant the available root density did not reflect a real root density, but the root uptake was designed to reflect the effective distribution of root density.
Calculated soil water tension was well fitted to the observed data through the physically based model. However, a dried zone could not be explained around the 100 cm soil depth after a dry season. In spite of the relatively small number of roots found deep in the soil under forest stands the soil was often dried to the extremly dry condition.