Seasonality Effect of Infiltration Rates of Some Selected Soil Types of Soil in North Central Area of Nigeria

Abstract

Infiltration experiments were conducted to investigate seasonality effect of infiltration rates on some major soils in Gidan Kwanu area of the central area of Nigeria. The major soil found in this area is the sandy loam type with a sparse distinction of the sandy–clay soil and sandy soils. The infiltrometer rings will be placed randomly on each soil type and measurement taken to the nearest centimetre. The rings will be driven into the ground by hammering a wooden bar placed diametrically on the rings to prevent any blowout effects around the bottoms of the rings. In areas where ridges and furrows existed, the inner rings will always be placed in the furrow. The sandy soil had the highest rate of infiltration rate of 11.26 cm/hr and 19.35 cm/hr for the wet and dry seasons respectively while disturbed sandy soil hard the lowest infiltration rate of 8.18 cm/hr during the wet season and disturbed loam soil had the lowest infiltration rate of 8.61 cm/hr for dry season. Infiltration capacity was reasonably stable over the two seasons considered, thus infiltration tests have a role in assessing the long term risk of overland flow and the associated pollution hazard.