Infiltration is a dynamic process, variable in time and space and plays a vital role in the replenishment of soil water which is responsible for the growth and development of crops. Modelling of infiltration equation involves in finding out coefficients in the expressions for the curves infiltration rate and accumulated infiltration verses time and other parameters. The present study is aimed at determining the best fit infiltration model. Four equations including those of Kostiakov, Green Ampt, Horton’s and Philip’s were compared to determine which one most accurately predicted measured infiltration rates. For getting best fitting model for a particular soil and soil condition the results obtained from various infiltration models were compared with observed double ring infiltrometer data. Cultivation influences the infiltration rate by increasing the porosity of the surface soil and breaking up the surface seals is also considered in the present study. The experiment was done for cultivated and uncultivated bare soil conditions. The parameters considered for analysing the best fit model were coefficient of determination, correlation coefficient and standard error. The results shown that, the infiltration values obtained by Philip’s model and Green-Ampt model are nearer to observed values. From the results it was finally concluded that the Philip’s model with coefficient of determination 0.99 as well as correlation coefficient 0.99 and standard error 0.08 fits best to the observed values followed by Green-Ampt and Kostiakov.

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