80 Engineering Hydrology

before it can flow over the surface. The volume of water trapped in these depressions
is called depression storage. This amount is eventually lost to runoff through processes
of infiltration and evaporation and thus form a part of the initial loss. Depression
storage depends on a vast number of factors the chief of which are: (i) the type of soil,
(ii) the condition of the surface reflecting the amount and nature of depression,
(iii) the slope of the catchment, and (iv) the antecedent precipitation, as a measure of
the soil moisture. Obviously, general expressions for quantitative estimation of this
loss are not available. Qualitatively, it has been found that antecedent precipitation
has a very pronounced effect on decreasing the loss to runoff in a storm due to
depression. Values of 0.50 cm in sand, 0.4 cm in loam and 0.25 cm in clay can be
taken as representatives for depression-storage loss during intensive storms.

D: INFILTRATION
3.15 INFILTRATION
Infiltration is the flow of water into the
ground through the soil surface. The distri-
bution of soil moisture within the soil pro-
file during the infiltration process is illus-
trated in Fig. 3.8. When water is applied at
the surface of a soil, four moisture zones in
the soil, as indicated in Fig. 3.8 can be iden-
tified.
Zone 1: At the top, a thin layer of saturated
zone is created.
Zone 2: Beneath zone 1, there is a transi-
tion zone.
Zone 3: Next lower zone is the trans-mis-
sion zone where the downward
motion of the moisture takes place.
The moisture content in this zone Fig. 3.8 Distribution of Soil
is above field capacity but below Moisture in the Infiltra-
saturation. Further, it is character- tion Process
ized by unsaturated flow and fairly uniform moisture content.
Zone 4: The last zone is the wetting zone. The soil moisture in this zone will be at or
near field capacity and the moisture content
decreases with the depth. The boundary of
the wetting zone is the wetting front where a
sharp discontinuity exists between the newly
wet soil and original moisture content of the
soil. Depending upon the amount of infiltra-
tion and physical properties of the soil, the
wetting front can extend from a few centime-
tres to metres.
The infiltration process can be easily understood
through a simple analogy. Consider a small container Fig. 3.9 An Analogy for
covered with wire gauze as in Fig. 3.9. If water is Infiltration