Modeling moisture and heat changes in road layers is important for understanding road hydrology, but also for better construction and maintenance of roads. The modeling task is more complicated in cold regions, due to the water-ice phase change in wintertime. This paper presents a two-dimensional model based on a road section. The water and heat transport equations, including freezing/thawing and vapor flow, were implemented within the COMSOL Multiphysics tool. Parameters were optimized from modeling results based on measured soil moisture and temperature at a road test station near Stockholm. Impacts of phase change in the model were assessed. The results showed that model developed can accurately predict temperature changes, water and ice content in different road layers based on pressure head and temperature gradient. The model of water dynamics performs much better than predicting the average water content in the upper road layer. Parameters related to soil water retention curve are optimized and most parameters influence water and heat change in the same direction, except the thermal conductivity of soil. The optimized parameters based on moisture content and temperature data from the sensors in the road section can be used in this model for testing different road materials and geometries. The model provides a clear understanding of water and heat transfer in roads with ideal boundary and initial conditions. For a better understanding of road heat and moisture dynamics, more physical processes can be added to the model in future work by coupling snow melt and surface flow models.
Soil freezing/thawing is of importance in the transport of water, heat and solute, with coupled effects. Due to complexity in soil freezing/thawing, uncertainty could be influential in both experimentation and simulation work in frozen soils. Solute and water in frozen soil could reduce the freezing point, resulting in uncertainty in simulation water, heat and solute processes as well as in estimation of frozen soil evaporation. High salinity and groundwater level could result in high soil evaporation during wintertime. Seasonal courses in energy and water balance on surface have shown to be influential to soil water and heat dynamics, as well as in salt accumulation during wintertime. Water and solute accumulated during freezing period resulted in high evaporation during thawing period and enhanced surface salinization. Diurnal changes in surface energy partitioning resulted in significant cycle of freezing/thawing as well as in evaporation/condensation in surface layer, which could in turn affect atmosphere. Uncertainties in experiments and simulations were detectable in investigation of seasonally frozen soils with limited methods and simplified representations of reality in two agricultural fields in northern China. Soil water and solute contents have shown to be more uncertain than soil temperatures in both measurements and simulations. The combination of experiments with process-based model (CoupModel) has proven to be useful in understanding freezing/thawing processes and in identification of uncertainty, when Monte-Carlo based methods were used for evaluation of simulations. Correlations between parameters and model performance indices needed to be taken into account carefully in calibration of the process-based model. Parameters related to soil hydraulic processes and surface energy processes were more sensitive when using different datasets for calibration. In using multiple model performance indicators for multi-objective evaluation, the trade-offs between them have shown to be a source of uncertainty in calibration. More proper representations of the reality in model (e.g., soil hydraulic and thermal properties) and more detailed measurements (e.g., soil liquid water content and solute concentration) as input would be efficient in reducing uncertainty. Relationships between groundwater, soil and climate change would be of high interest for better understanding of cold regions water and energy balance.
Calibration and uncertainty analysis with selected parameters were conducted for two seasonally frozen soils in north China. A trade-off existed in good model performance indicators on water, heat or energy balance. Correlations between parameter values and model performances also showed a trade-off. Uncertainties in obtained parameter distributions were detected due to differences in calibration datasets, as well as complexity in frozen soils. Results showed that even with different datasets in calibration, most of the parameters calibrated showed common ranges. This indicated the availability in using common reasonable parameter sets for simulations in different frozen soils. Except for common ranges for most calibrated parameters, site-specified characteristics were also detected for each site, with totally different parameter ranges given two different datasets for calibration. Parameters related to soil hydraulic conductivity ( ) and surface aerodynamics ( ) were detected to be two site specific parameters in two sites, given datasets and calibration methods in this study. The uncertainty and sensitivity for site specific parameters should also be taken into consideration in choice of reasonable ranges for calibration. More detailed studies on site specific parameters would be of importance for better representations of water and energy balance in different seasonally frozen soils in cold regions.
Experiments for soil freezing/thawing were conducted in two seasonally frozen agricultural fields in northern China during 2011/2012 and 2012/2013 wintertime, respectively. Mass balance was checked based on measured data at various depths. Simulation work was conducted by combining CoupModel with Monte-Carlo sampling method to achieve parameter sets with equally good performance. Uncertainties existed in both measurements and model due to complexity in freezing/thawing processes as well as in surface energy partitioning. Parameters related to surface radiation and soil frost were strongly constrained with datasets available in two sites combining multi-criterion on outputs. Simulated soil heat process were better described than soil water processes given the data obtained for calibration. Model performance was improved with consideration of solute effects on freezing point depression. More detailed solute transport processes in CoupModel needed to be improved by taking more processes such as diffusion and expulsion into consideration based on more precise experimental results, to reduce uncertainty in model. Generally, combination of measurement with process-based model and Monte-Carlo sampling method provided an approach for understanding of solute transport as well as its influences on soil freezing/thawing in cold arid agricultural regions. Incorporating more detailed descriptions of processes for frozen soil in the model can be justified if uncertainties in measurements can be reduced by introducing of high-precision novel technologies.
Soil freezing and thawing is of importance in transport of water, heat and solute, which has coupled effects. Solute type and solute content in frozen soil could influence the osmotic potential of frozen soil and decrease freezing point, resulting in differences in soil freezing characteristic curves under various solute conditions. Prediction model provides an approach for estimating soil freezing characteristic curves under various water and solute conditions based on soil freezing characteristic curve obtained at certain water and solute conditions. Water, heat and solute transport in seasonally frozen soil is a coupled process strongly linked to evaporation and energy balance of soil surface. High solute content and shallow GWTD provide good conditions for water and solute accumulation in surface layer, which would result in more evaporation during thawing. Also, high solute content in upper layer would cause more liquid water to exist in upper layer, which may enhance evaporation during freezing period. Obvious increase in cumulative evaporation amount was detected for frost tube experiments, 51.0, 96.6, to 114.0 mm when initial solute content increased from 0.2%, 0.4%, to 0.6%, and initial GWTD of 1.5 m. Similar trends were observed for other GWTD and solute treatments. Water and heat transport simulated by the CoupModel combined with GLUE calibration showed good performances, when constrained by certain criteria. Uncertainties were investigated using ensemble of modeling results. Simulated energy partitioning showed intensive oscillations in daily courses during soil freezing/thawing periods and strongly influenced the stability of energy system on surface of soil. The study demonstrated the complexity in water, heat and solute transport in seasonally frozen soil, and the necessity of combining experimental data with numerical model for better understanding the processes as well in decision making for irrigation district water resources management.
To investigate carbon soils under saline and shallow groundwater supply conditions, in-situ lysimeter experiments with different groundwater table depths (WTD = 1.8 and 2.2 m) were conducted in Inner Mongolia, China during the wintertime of 2012-2013. Changes in soil organic C and total N in multiple layers during various periods, as well as their relationships with soil water, salt, and heat dynamics were analyzed. Accumulation of soil organic C and total N during freezing periods was strongly related to water and salt accumulation under temperature and water potential gradients. Water and salt showed direct influences on soil C and N dynamics by transporting them to upper layer and changing soil microbial activity. Salt accumulation in the upper layer during freezing and thawing of soil affected microbial activity by lowering osmotic potential, resulting in lower C/N ratio. Nitrogen in soil tended to be more mobile with water during freezing and thawing than organic C, and the groundwater table also served as a water source for consecutive upward transport of dissolved N and C. The changes in C and N in the upper 10 cm soil layer served as a good sign for identification of water and salt influences on soil microbial activity during freezing/thawing.
Laboratory experiments were conducted to study effects of water and solute on soil freezing using TDR and temperature sensor combination methods. ANOVA methods were applied for analyzing significance for solute influences on soil freezing characteristic curve (SFCC). Results showed that higher initial water content influenced the SFCC by increasing liquid water content at the same temperature due to more water connection with soil pores, and adsorbed by soil particles. ANOVA results showed solute content and solute type all had significant effects (P < 0.001 to P < 0.5) on soil freezing processes. And solute in soil resulted in a lower freezing point of soil, which made more liquid water co-exist with ice at negative temperatures. And solute concentration condensing due to liquid water decline would also impede soil freezing processes by decreasing osmotic potential. Due to the physical and chemical process of soil solution, different ions also presented some differences in SFCC parameter estimation. Based on a trial and error method, a prediction model was also built, and it behaved well in predicting SFCC under different water and solute conditions.
In cold/arid agricultural regions seasonal freezing/thawing of soils can result in soil salinization in winter; therefore, it is crucial to understand the mechanisms behind soil salinization during winter for better water management in agriculture. In Hetao Irrigation District of Inner Mongolia, northern China, we used the CoupModel (version 5) considering dynamical impacts of salt on soil freezing point to simulate soil salt dynamics and soil freezing/thawing in three winters during 2012-2015. The simulated soil temperature at different depths was improved by 10% with respect to the Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient NSE R-2 when dynamical salt impact on freezing point was taken into accounted. Simulations revealed that ice coverage on soil surface as well as water stored in drainage ditches during winter cause more severe salinization in spring due to improper Al (Autumn Irrigation) practices combining poor drainage systems. A new Al practice with earlier irrigation date (i.e. 10 d earlier than 2012/2013 winter regulation), longer irrigation period (i.e. 7 d instead of 3 d), but with less irrigation water (reduced by 20% from 2012/2013 winter regulation) was then proposed. The new AI practice can control groundwater level and salt accumulation better during winters, Our results highlight the importance of combining detailed field irrigation tests with a process-based model accounting for interactions between soil freezing/thawing and salinization to improve water management efficiency in cold/arid agricultural regions.
Soil freezing/thawing is an important mechanism to control soil water and heat redistribution in mid-to-high latitudes. Salt in the agricultural soil from mid-to-high latitudes can alter characteristics of soil freezing/thawing cycle and then affect soil thermal and hydrological processes in winter and finally cause salinization in spring. To quantify the impacts of soil salinization on soil water and heat transport in saline soils, we conducted field experiments on soil water and heat dynamics in two typical agricultural regions of northern China with different climate and soil conditions. The coupled soil heat and water model—CoupModel has been extended to account for the dynamic impacts of salt on freezing point depression. The newly-added module improved the representation of soil freezing point depression by significantly improving model performance between simulated and measured soil temperatures, especially around freezing point, with mean error (ME) for the soil temperature at various depths reduced by 16% to 77% for the entire winter period. With a systematic model calibration approach, processes related to energy balance and soil freezing/thawing have been well constrained for both study sites with different characteristics for soil hydrology and energy balance. The model generally showed good performance with respect to soil moisture and temperature for both the calibration and validation periods. Our study has demonstrated a new modeling approach to successfully account for the impacts of salt on soil freezing/thawing and the new module can be a useful tool to address the salinization problems in mid-to-high latitudes with respect to climate change and water management.