Preferential flow in soils contributes to water and contaminant leaching to groundwater and subsurface drains. At practical scales, preferential flow is often neglected due to the lack of consensus or guidance on how to simulate this process. Dual‐permeability (DP) approaches are a standard, but their applicability in practice is limited by the large number of parameters involved. The source‐responsive (SR) model simulates preferential flow as flow films along the walls of macropores that interact with the soil matrix. The objective of this study was to evaluate the ability of the SR model and a DP model with calibration limited to macropore parameters to simulate hydrologic variables of interest for practical applications. Infiltration experiments were conducted in a 150‐cm‐long by 50‐cm‐wide by 40‐cm‐deep soil column with vertical artificial macropores, with preferential flow being the most prevalent flow process. Two macropore configurations and various rainfall rates were tested. The DP model provided relatively accurate predictions of the bottom drainage rates, but inaccurate soil parameter estimates resulted in poor predictions of matrix flow. Critical limitations in the SR model formulation were highlighted, and the model was revised. The refined SR model provided accurate predictions of bottom drainage rates and water contents under steady‐state rainfall. The DP model with a reduced calibration appeared valid to estimate subsurface fluxes with negligible matrix flow. The SR model applicability is limited to steady‐state scenarios with negligible matrix flow. Critical developments are needed for the SR model to be applicable in practice.

中文翻译：

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优先流模型在人工大孔重塑土壤渗透预测中的性能

土壤中的优先流动有助于将水和污染物浸出至地下水和地下排水沟。在实际规模上，由于缺乏关于如何模拟此过程的共识或指导，通常会忽略优先流动。双渗透（DP）方法是一个标准，但是在实践中它们的适用性受到涉及的大量参数的限制。源响应（SR）模型模拟​​了沿与土壤基质相互作用的大孔壁上流动膜的优先流动。这项研究的目的是评估SR模型和DP模型的能力，其校准仅限于大孔参数，以模拟实际应用中感兴趣的水文变量。渗透实验是在150厘米长，50厘米宽，40厘米深的土壤柱中进行的，该土壤柱具有垂直的人工大孔，优先流动是最普遍的流动过程。测试了两种大孔构造和各种降雨率。DP模型提供了对底部排水速率的相对准确的预测，但是不准确的土壤参数估计导致对基质流量的预测较差。强调了SR模型制定中的关键限制，并对模型进行了修订。改进的SR模型可提供稳态降雨条件下的底排水率和含水量的准确预测。减少校准的DP模型似乎可以有效地估计基质流量可忽略不计的地下通量。SR模型的适用性仅限于矩阵流可忽略不计的稳态情况。