Sport Terrain Testing I: Infiltration Test

In this post we bring you a video tutorial on the infiltration test by our agricultural engineer. Raúl Bragado Alcaraz. The infiltration test is a fundamental assessment that must be carried out on sports grounds to record the behaviour and soil permeability.

Poor infiltration affects the GRASS HEALTH This is why it is so important to measure this parameter, because of root asphyxia, or the appearance of diseases due to permanent excess humidity.

The double ring infiltrometer is the tool used to carry out the measurement. It consists of two concentric rings that are driven into the ground, well levelled, filled with water and the millimetres per hour of infiltration of the soil are measured with a ruled ball.

It is very important that the ground is well soaked, therefore, before taking the measurement, the two rings are filled with water, leaving the outer ring with more water column than the inner one, to avoid horizontal movement of the water.

The water is allowed to penetrate for at least 20 minutes.

Once the wetting has been done, a ruler ball is used to determine the height of the sheet of water. With the rings filled with water, it is left infiltrate water for another 20 minutes and re-measured.

The result of the test is the difference in height over the 20 minutes multiplied by 3 (as the measurement is given in millimetres/hour).

There are many variables that can affect soil infiltration:

-The first and most fundamental is the soil texture. As a general rule, a sandy soil will infiltrate much more than a clay soil.

-But it is not the only variable that affects us, other variables such as the concentration of organic matter is fundamental in the correct infiltration of the fields as the particles of organic matter can clog the macropores of a clayey soil and decrease infiltration.

-A final example of a variable that affects soil infiltration is the excess exchangeable sodiumis a parameter that is not always related to infiltration, but it affects it strongly.

The sodium causes the dispersion of soil elements, breaking the structure and thus eliminating pores in the soil through which water and air can easily flow.

For all these reasons, in Tiloom we offer you the measurement of the infiltration in your grounds to, with a later analysis, help you to improve it and so get your ground to have the perfect properties to maintain a healthy and strong cover.

If you want to know more about this test, visit the entry on the water infiltration test where we explain it in more detail.

The product featured in this entry can be purchased from:

• Double ring infiltrometer

A more portable version is available to facilitate frequent testing.

• Portable Infiltrometer

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