[Objective] The effects of gypsum on soil water infiltration characteristics were studied to provide basis for soil infiltration modeling and the application of gypsum in the fields of production practice

soil improvement and so on.[Methods] An experiment using one-dimensional infiltration vertical soil column was conducted to test the influences of gypsum on the soil moisture infiltration characteristics.[Results] The results indicated with increasing of gypsum content

the cumulative infiltrations were reduced by 10.2%

16.15%

30.73% and 40.38% respectively

and the infiltration rates reduced by 18.78% and 21.07%

42.13% and 54.82% in the early stage of gypsum application. Moreover

soil profile water content decreased significantly too. The data of soil moisture infiltration were analyzed by the vertical one dimensional infiltration model. In the model

saturated hydraulic conductivities reduced by 18.42%

36.84%

59.21% and 75.00% respectively

while the changes of distribution coefficient and comprehensive shape coefficient were not obvious with the increasing of gypsum content. The cumulative infiltration was highly correlated with the measured cumulative infiltration

having a coefficient of determination(R2) over than 0.998

and root mean square error less than 0.5. So

this study indicated gypsum could not only be able to weak effectively the soil infiltration capacity and reduce water leakage

but also can change the distribution of soil moisture. The vertical one-dimensional infiltration model performed well in analyzing the influences of gypsum on soil water characteristics.[Conclusion] Gypsum can effectively reduce the infiltration capacity of the soil and change the characteristics of water transmissibility.