Experimental and numerical study on soil-gas diffusivity in pasture topsoils

Abstract

Soil-gas diffusivity plays a fundamental role on diffusion-controlled migration of climate impact gases from different terrestrial ecosystems including managed pasture systems. Soil-gas diffusivity has a strong bearing on soil type/texture and soil structure (e.g., density) and typically shows a depth-dependent behavior in subsurface. This study investigated the gas diffusivity in soils sampled from a managed pasture site at Ambewela, Sri Lanka at 0-5 cm depth range along a downgrading transect. The soils were pre-characterized for particle-size distribution, organic matter content, dry density and particle density. Soil-gas diffusivity was measured using one-chamber diffusion apparatus using N₂ and O₂ as experimental gases. The measured diffusivity, together with selected intact and repacked soil data from literature, were tested against the existing predictive gas diffusivity models. We used a generalized descriptive parametric two-region model to represent bimodal/two-region behaviour of selected soils which was able to statistically outperform the predictive models for both intact and repacked soils and hence demonstrated its applicability to better characterize site-specific greenhouse gas emissions with useful implications for pasture management.