5

Infiltration

Chapter Outline

5.1 DEFINITION

Infiltration may be defined as entry and movement of water through the land surface into the substrata below.

5.1.1 Infiltration and Percolation

Infiltration includes entry of water into the soil surface and its movement, while percolation is the movement of water under gravity. These two phenomena are confusing as they are closely related, but technically there is a difference. Percolation starts after infiltration.

5.1.2 Abstractions

When there is precipitation, it may or may not result in overland flow into a stream depending upon its intensity and duration. ...

Get Elementary Engineering Hydrology now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.