Evaluation of various infiltration models based on multicriteria decision making across various soil types and land uses in India

Abstract Characterization of infiltration is crucial for designing and assessing hydrological processes. This study characterized the infiltration across different soil types (fine, moderately fine, medium, and moderately coarse in texture) and agricultural land uses (paddy, fallow, and upland crops) in India, evaluated six major infiltration models (Kostiakov, Phillp, Horton, Holtan, Green and Ampt and modified Kostiakov), and developed pedotransfer functions for individual model coefficients based on basic soil parameters. Mean basic infiltration rate was maximum in medium texture soil (7.02 cm h − 1 ), followed by moderately fine (4.58 cm h − 1 ), fine (3.7 cm h − 1 ), and moderately coarse (3.19 cm h − 1 ) soils. Under paddy, fallow land and upland crops, the values of basic infiltration rate were 2.5, 4.1 and 5.27 cm h − 1 , respectively. The Kostiakov model was the best performing model across land use identified through ranking based multicriteria decision making which was closely followed by the Phillip model. Bulk density had the strongest correlation with model parameters, indicating the importance of soil management in modifying the infiltration process. The pedotransfer models developed using basic soil properties may be employed for easy and rapid characterisation of infiltration in India.