Modelling heat transport and freezing and thawing processes in a clayey, subsurface drained agricultural field

Tekijä	Warsta, L.; Turunen, M.; Koivusalo, H.; Paasonen-Kivekäs, M.; Taskinen, A
Sarja	11th ICID International Drainage Work-shop on Agricultural Drainage Needs and Future Priorities. Cairo
Päivämäärä	2012
Avainsanat	Boreal environment, clay soil, FLUSH model, heat transport, subsurface drain
Sivut	23-27
Kieli	englanti
Saatavuus	Modelling heat transport and freezing and thawing processes in a clayey, subsurface drained agricultural field

Understanding soil heat processes is important in the Boreal environment characterized by

seasonal snowfalls and soil freezing and thawing processes. FLUSH is a new 3-D distributed,

process-based model for simulating water flow and soil erosion in clayey, subsurface drained

field sections. The objective of the study was to implement heat transport and soil freezing

and thawing processes into the model. At this point heat related processes do not affect soil

hydrology but water regime affects heat transport processes. The model was applied into data

gathered in a clayey, subsurface drained field section in southern Finland. According to the

results, the model functioned as intended and temperature changes were slowed down due to

freezing and thawing processes near 0 °C. Simulation results indicated that higher grounds,

which tend to stay drier, also stayed warmer during cold periods (0.7 °C) due to insulation

effect of air compared to lower wetter areas. In the late spring the difference was as high as 5

°C. The direction of the slope and shadow cast by a nearby forest edge also had a notable

effect on temperature.