Thermal conductivity – partially frozen soil

For temperatures between 0 °C and T_f a weighted conductivity is used:

                                                   (1.32)

where k_h,i  is the thermal conductivity of a frozen soil and k_h  is the thermal conductivity of an unfrozen soil. The thermal quality, Q, (the mass ratio of frozen water to total amount of water) is deduced from energy relations:

                                                           (1.33)

where E is the total heat content of the soil, H is the sensitive heat content, L_f  is the latent heat of freezing and w_ice  is the mass of water available for freezing.