Numerical simulation of infiltration in soil of Australian arid land

It is considered that large-scale afforestation in arid and semi-arid land is one of the most promising countermeasures for fixation of carbon dioxide , which is mainly responsible for the global warming problem. Afforestation of arid land is hindered by water shortages, and requires more effective u tilization of limited rainwater. The concept of this study is to evaluate t he various countermeasures for constructing water balance system, from diff erent viewpoints of conventional element-technology-oriented measures. In t his study, Leonora in Western Australia was selected as a research area, an d the infiltration process in the area was analyzed by two kinds of simulat ion models. Their validity was tested by comparing with the experimental re sults using glass beads with simple characteristics. It was clearly demonstrated that each model has its own problems. Then we e valuated the infiltration rate of precipitated water into Australian specif ic soil by the model which showed better approximation results to the exper iments with glass beads. As a result, it is suggested that the poor permeab ility of the soil limits plant growth in the Australian specific area.