hiekkasäiliömenetelmän

Hiekkasäiliömenetelmä, known in English as the sand tank method, is a laboratory technique used to study the movement of water and solutes through porous media, particularly soil. It involves filling a transparent container, typically a glass tank, with a representative sample of the soil or porous material being studied. This soil is usually packed to a specific density to mimic field conditions.

Water or a solution containing a tracer is then introduced at one end of the tank, and its movement through the porous medium is observed and measured over time. The transparent nature of the tank allows for direct visualization of the wetting front, the distribution of water, and the displacement of air. By using colored dyes or radioactive tracers, the movement and dispersion of solutes can be tracked.

The sand tank method is valuable for understanding fundamental processes like infiltration, percolation, and solute transport. It helps researchers investigate the influence of soil properties, such as grain size distribution, porosity, and pore structure, on hydrological and chemical transport phenomena. The results obtained from controlled sand tank experiments can be used to calibrate and validate more complex numerical models used for simulating water flow and contaminant transport in larger-scale environments like agricultural fields or groundwater systems. This method provides a simplified yet effective way to gain insights into complex subsurface processes.