An environmental chamber for studying the soil-atmosphere interaction

A large scale environmental chamber was developed to study the effect of air conditions on evaporation rate. This chamber was instrumented by suction sensors, volumetric water content sensors and temperature sensors at various depths. The soil studied, the Romainville green clay, was put in the chamber by compaction. In the air, temperature and relative humidity and wind speed were monitored. The soil surface temperature was measured by one infrared thermometer. Several humidification-drying cycles were carried out. During the drying phase, a camera fixed above the chamber allowed monitoring the development of the crack network. The evaporation rate was calculated based on the temperature and humidity data at the inlet and the outlet of the chamber. The performance of the chamber to simulate the evaporation phenomenon was then assessed.