specific yield

specific yield

[spə′sif·ik ′yēld] (hydrology) The quantity of water which a unit volume of aquifer, after being saturated, will yield by gravity; it is expressed either as a ratio or as a percentage of the volume of the aquifer; specific yield is a measure of the water available to wells.

specific yield

The percentage of water which will be yielded by a rock or soil (by gravity) after being saturated; computed in terms of the ratio of the volume of water retained to its own volume.