The validity conditions of compartment models for cesium migration in soils are investigated. A compartment model is derived from a diffusion-convection model. The model considers free and bound cesium compartments and is applied to measured profiles of 137Cs of undisturbed soil in Northern Greece. It is concluded that the rate of cesium transfer must vary linearly with depth and that from measured equilibrium profiles, the ratios of model parameters can be determined but not the parameters themselves.