Recommended values for porosity, field capacity and wilting point for different soils.1
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Soil | Porosity (volume/volume) | Field capacity (volume/volume) | Wilting point (volume/volume) | Porosity minus field capacity (volume/volume)2 | Field capacity minus wilting point (volume/volume)3 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sand | 0.43 | 0.17 | 0.025 to 0.09 | 0.26 | 0.11 |
Loamy sand | 0.44 | 0.09 | 0.04 | 0.35 | 0.05 |
Sandy loam | 0.45 | 0.14 | 0.05 | 0.31 | 0.09 |
Loam | 0.47 | 0.25 to 0.32 | 0.09 to 0.15 | 0.19 | 0.06 |
Silt loam | 0.50 | 0.28 | 0.11 | 0.22 | 0.17 |
Sandy clay loam | 0.4 | 0.07 | |||
Clay loam | 0.46 | 0.32 | 0.15 | 0.14 | 0.17 |
Silty clay loam | 0.47 to 0.51 | 0.30 to 0.37 | 0.17 to 0.22 | 0.16 | 0.14 |
Sandy clay | 0.43 | 0.11 | |||
Silty clay | 0.47 | 0.05 | |||
Clay | 0.47 | 0.32 | 0.20 | 0.15 | 0.12 |
Sources of information include Cornell University, USDA-NIFA, Minnesota Stormwater Manual,
1
2This value may be used to represent the volume of water that will drain from a bioretention media.
3This value may be used to estimate the amount of water available for evapotranspiration