 The infiltration rate is the velocity or speed at

which water enters into the soil.

 It is usually measured by the depth (mm) of the
water layer that can enter the soil in one hour
Or

 rate at which water enters the soil at the surface.

It is denoted by f(t).
 CUMULATIVE INFILTRATION :- Accumulated
depth of water infiltrating during given time
period. It is denoted by F(t).
t
d F
F ( t )   f ( t ) d t f (t ) 
0 dt
 INFILTRATION CAPACITY RATE CURVE
as obtained from infiltrometer is essentially
observed to be decaying curve (max to min)
 Some mathematical expressions to describe the
shape of curve, given by various investigators
are :-
a) Horton’s equation
b) Phillips equation
c) kostiakov equation
d) holtans equation
a) Horton’s equation :

ft= Infiltration capacity(inches/hour)

f0= Initial infiltration capacity.
fc= Minimum infiltration capacity.
t = Time since the start of rainfall.
k = Constant depending upon soil type & vegetable cover.

Note : fc is direct dependent upon hydraulic conductivity.

 F=[ A+(s/2) x t-0.5 ]
b) Phillips equation :
Here a = Minimum infiltration capacity.

s = Initial infiltration capacity.

c) kostiakov equation: F= (a x t n)

c) holtans equation : F = ( afnp + fc )

 Here in above methods a & n are constants

depends on soil moisture & vegetable cover
 For consistency in hydrological calculations, a
constant value of infiltration rate for the entire
storm duration is adopted. The average
infiltration rate is called the INFILTRATION INDEX.
 The two commonly used infiltration indices are
the following:
o φ – index
o W – index
There are extremely used for the analysis of major
floods when the soil is wet and the infiltration
rate becomes constant.
 This is defined as the rate of infiltration above
which
rainfall volume = runoff volume(saturation).
 The
assum that all lo
only.
 For determ Φ
is
unshaded above that l to the
of surface runoff.
 Φ – INDEX for a catchment, during a storm depends on

 Soil type
 vegetation cover
 Initial moisture condition

 Application – Estimation of flood magnitudes

due to critical storms.
For the soil conditions in India for flood
producing storms (C.W.C) has found
relationship
Φ = (I - R)/24 , R = (α X I 1.2 )

 R = Runoff in cm from a 24 hr rainfall of

intensity I (cm/hr).
 α = Coefficient depends upon soil type.

 In estimating maximum flood for design purpose

, in absence of any other data , a
Φ- index value of 0.10 cm/hr can be assumed
 Thisis theaverage infiltrationrateduring thetime when the
rainfallintensity > infiltrationrate.
W-index= (P–R –I a )/tf = ( F/t f )

where P = Total storm precipitation (cm)

R = Total surface runoff (cm)
I a = Depression and interception losses (cm)
t f = Time period of runoff( in hours)

 The w- index is more accuratethan Φ –index because it

excludestheDepression & interception.
INTERCEPTION : it is a part of water caught by
the vegetation and subsequently evaporated as

a) Surface flow
b) Stem flow

c) Evapotranspiration

For a given storm, the interception loss is

estimated as

Ii = Si + K i Et
 Where

 I i = Interception loss in mm.

 S i = Interception storage varies from 0.25 to 1.25
mm depending on the nature of vegetation
 K i =Ratio of vegetal surface area to its projected
area.
 Et= Evaporation rate in mm/h during
the precipitation.
 t= Duration of rainfall in hours.
 W-index is the refined version of Φ – INDEX.
 Initial losses I a are separated from total
abstractions.

 W-index = Φ–index Ia

 The accurate estimation of W-index is rather

difficult to obtain hence Φ – index is most
commonly used.

 Since retention rate is very low both index W

& Φ are almost same.