Determining the drainable pore space through field tests in Konya plain, Turkey

Drainable pore space (μ) is known as one of the main criteria when designing subsurface drainage systems under unsteady-state flow conditions. Determining μ is both a difficult and time-consuming process. An easy and exact method for determining μ could provide researchers with a considerably valuable advantage in decision-making stages. This parameter is influenced by the soil moisture condition at a certain position and time. When groundwater tables are relatively shallow, the parameter value is highly variable in time and space. Because of this, one should be cautious when using this parameter to design subsurface drainage systems. This paper describes a field experiment to determine the drainable pore space as a function of groundwater table depth and drain discharge and some hydraulic parameters of soil to verify our point of view. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.