Interactions between heat transfer and moisture movement due to evaporation from the soil surface and the effect of them on solute migration are studied experimentally and theoretically.
The results show that: (1) the evaporation from the soil surface and the moisture movement is controlled not only by evaporation factors such as wind velocity and temperature, but also by the thermal and moisture dependency of transport coefficients in the governing equations, and the depth of the capillary fringe above the groundwater table, (2) the solute migration depends on the moisture movement and the depth of the capillary fringe above the groundwater table, (3) the accumulation of solute is localized near the soil surface region. The comparisons between analytical solutions and experimental results shows a good agreement.