Variations in ground temperature in the presence of radiative heat flux and spatial-dependent soil thermophysical property

Abstract

This research investigated the variations in ground temperature mechanism with time-dependent suction velocity under the influence of a varying thermal conductivity of the soil. It is assumed that all parameters depend only on the depth (z) since the flow considered is solely along the vertical direction, thereby making the problem one-dimensional in that direction. Considering also, the flow of the radiative heat flux through it, the surface of the ground is assumed to be an optically thin environment. The governing equations were reduced to non-dimensional form by the use of some dimensionless parameters resulting into a non-linear partial differential equation. The equation was linearized using time-dependent perturbation method and then solved using the method of undetermined coefficients. The results were displayed graphically and compared to various works in literature. The result obtained is able to address most of the critical issues affecting ground temperature distribution due to variation of various parameters affecting ground thermal properties.