BEST METHOD

Studying soil hydrological processes requires the determination of soil hydraulic parameters whose assessment using traditional methods is expensive and time-consuming. A specific method, Beerkan estimation of soil transfer parameters referred to as BEST was developed to facilitate the determination of both the water retention curve and the hydraulic conductivity curve defined by their shape and scale parameters. BESTestimates shape parameters from particlesize distribution analysis and scale parameters from infiltration experiments at null pressure head. BEST appears to be a promising, easy, robust, and inexpensive way of characterizing the hydraulic behavior of soil (Lassabatère et al. 2006).