Ubiquity and Causes of Soil Water Preferential Flow Across 17 Ecoregions
Abstract Preferential flow (PF) in soil causes the rapid transport of water, nutrients, and contaminants into the subsurface, influencing groundwater recharge and streamflow. Data scarcity has hindered the quantification of PF occurrence and the identification of its drivers across diverse ecoregions. We address this gap by analyzing high‐frequency, multi‐depth soil moisture data across 17 ecoregions in the USA, using ∼1,500 sensors at 40 sites. We discovered that PF is widespread, with sites experiencing PF in up to 60% of rainfall events ≥2 mm. Multiple approaches consistently show that PF is more likely to occur with increased peak rainfall intensity, finer textured material, low soil moisture variability, humid climate, and higher net primary productivity. This suggests that PF patterns could shift with projected climate changes, increasing uncertainty in predictions of groundwater recharge, water quality, and streamflow generation.
Authors
- Jannis Groh
- Inge Wiekenkamp (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4800-1160)
- Ryoko Araki (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3647-9768)
- Briana M. Wyatt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3393-1157)
- Octavia Crompton
- John R. Nimmo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8191-1727)
- Hoori Ajami (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6883-7630)
- Maria Pia Amato (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3325-3760)
- Daniel R. Hirmas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1204-0638)
- Nitin K. Singh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8495-1908)
- Pamela Sullivan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8780-8501)
- Daniel Giménez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1473-3243)
- Tianfang Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9565-9208)
- Matthias Sprenger (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1221-2767)
- Bonan Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3473-6190)
Institutions
- Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (US)
- University of California, Riverside (US)
- Texas Tech University (US)
- United States Geological Survey (US)
- Agricultural Research Service (US)
- Oregon State University (US)
- United States Department of Agriculture (US)
- University of Bonn (DE)
- North Carolina State University (US)
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (US)
- University of California, Santa Barbara (US)
- Forschungszentrum Jülich (DE)
- San Diego State University (US)
- Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (DE)
- Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (US)
- Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science (US)
- Sphere Institute (US)
- GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences (DE)
- Arizona State University (US)
- Auburn University (US)
- Texas A&M University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Geophysical Research Letters
- Published
- 2025-10-10
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1029/2025gl118045
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Soil and Unsaturated Flow
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.91