35. Specific Yield
Understanding specific yield is essential for managing groundwater resources. This chapter delineates the definition, significance, influencing factors, and methods for determining specific yield in aquifers. It emphasizes the critical role of specific yield in groundwater modeling and sustainable extraction.
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What we have learnt
- Specific yield quantifies usable water storage in aquifers.
- It is influenced by factors like grain size, soil texture, depth of saturation, and temperature.
- Methods for determining specific yield include laboratory and field methods.
Key Concepts
- -- Specific Yield (Sy)
- The ratio of water volume drained from soil or rock to its total volume, indicating usable water capacity.
- -- Porosity
- The total void space in a material, expressed as a percentage of the total volume.
- -- Specific Retention (Sr)
- The portion of water retained in the pores against gravity due to capillary forces.
- -- Storativity
- A measure of how much water can be released from a confined aquifer due to pressure changes, which is significantly smaller than specific yield.
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