A MOBILE, SELF-CONTAINED, SIMULATED RAINFALL INFILTROMETER

Water infiltration rates into soils can provide important insights int o the physical properties of the soil and its potential for crop produ ction. Rainfall infiltrometers can make measurements under conditions closer to natural rainfall than ponded or tension infiltrometers. In t he past, field measurements of infiltration with rainfall simulators h ave required the transport and assembly of bulky equipment. A self-con tained rainfall infiltrometer was designed and constructed on a high-c learance tricycle tractor that can be easily transported over roads on a trailer and then driven in cropped or uncropped field plots. Perfor mance of the unit is the same as the trailer-based infiltrometer that it replaced.