INFILTROMETER

An instrument which determines the rate and amount of water percolating into the soil by measuring the difference between the amount of water applied and that which runs off. Essentially, the infiltrometer consists of a sprinkling mechanism (rain simulator) which provides a rather uniform sprinkling of water to a prescribed area at prescribed rates and size drops (impact), a rain gage (either total or intensity), and a catchment basin or receptacles in which either the rate or total flow of surface runoff is measured. Infiltration or amount absorbed by the soil is usually expressed in inches (of water) per standard interval of time.