Title of Submission
A Multi-Fractal Approach for Modeling Unsaturated Hydraulic Conductivity
Degree Program
Computer Science, PhD
Major Advisor Name
Mojtaba Sadegh
Type of Submission
Scholarly Poster
Abstract
Accurate prediction of unsaturated hydraulic conductivity is indispensable for solving problems of fluid flow and solute transport. We present a novel approach to refine hydraulic conductivity estimation from soil water retention curve by considering multi-fractal properties of soil pore size distribution. On the basis of scaled saturation and pressure data, a test static has been developed for identification of soils with multi-fractal properties. The parameters of unsaturated hydraulic conductivity are tuned by Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithm using a wide variety of soil textures. Results indicate that neglect to account for multi-fractal properties of soils leads to serious errors.