Reclassifying Soil Textures Based On Hydrologic Function.

We will present a novel approach to reclassifying soil texture based on hydraulic response.  The approach recognizes that the movement of water through soils depends on a combination of the transmission and storage properties of soils.  These characteristics are complex functions of several hydraulic properties.  Our approach applies clustering techniques to the results of water flow simulations to group together soils that have the most similar responses to applied infiltration, drainage, and evapotranspiration forcings. The results, when plotted on the classic soil texture triangle, give insight into the importance of sand, silt, and clay for predicting hydrologic responses.  We propose that these reclassified soils will lead to new maps of soil hydraulic function based on existing textural information, thereby uncovering new landscape-scale patterns of infiltration capacity, runoff generation, flood susceptibility, and other related natural hazard and water management information.