Evaluation of infiltration models based on simple multicriteria decision making across various soil types and land uses in India

Characterization of soil infiltration is crucial for designing and assessing hydrological processes. The study aimed to characterize the infiltration across various soil types (ranging from fine to moderately coarse in texture), agricultural land uses (including paddy fields, fallow lands, and upland crops) and major soil groups in India using Kostiakov, Philip, Horton, Holtan, Green and Ampt, and modified Kostiakov models. The mean basic infiltration rate was maximum in medium-texture soil (7.0 cm h^− 1), followed by moderately fine (4.6 cm h^− 1), fine (3.7 cm h^− 1), and moderately coarse (3.2 cm h^− 1) soils. Under paddy, fallow land uses and upland crops, the values of basic infiltration rate were 2.5, 4.1 and 5.3 cm h^− 1, respectively. Across major soil groups, a significant variations in basic infiltration rates were observed among different soil types. Particularly, the highest infiltration rate was recorded in brown hill soil (8.1 cm h^− 1); conversely, the lowest infiltration rate was in black soil (3.2 cm h^− 1), attributed to the predominance of montmorillonite clay. By using rank-based multicriteria decision making, the Philip model was found to be the overall best-performing model. The Kostiakov model came in close second phase. Moreover, depending on the kind of land cover, Philip model outperformed other models, while Kostiakov fared better in upland crops and paddy fields. Additionally, Philip’s model also performed better than other infiltration models across a range of soil textures. The study emphasized the significane of choosing suitable models to appropriately quantify the infiltration across a range of hydrological and agricultural contexts by highlighting the effects of soil texture, land use, and soil type on infiltration rates.