Temporal stability analysis of soil moisture along a coniferous forest hillslope with subtropical monsoon climate in southwest China

Soil water content(SWC)plays a crucial role in simulating hydrological process,guiding reforestation and controlling soil erosion in mountainous regions.Spatial-temporal variability of SWC increases the difficulty of quantifying SWC pattern in the prediction of soil moisture.Temporal stability analysis of SWC can reduce the labor consuming and simplify the costly field monitoring.This study aimed to evaluate the temporal stability of SWC at hourly,daily and monthly temporal periods and its controlling factors at a hillslope in the Three Gorges region.The SWC of five soil depths was monitored at 5 topographic locations(toe,lower,middle,upper and top slope positions)along a 170 m hillslope in the Three Gorges region(110°04'~112°04'E,29°53'~31°34'N),Yichang City,Hubei Province,China from May 4^(th),2018 to May 3^(rd),2019.The results showed thatthe coefficient of variation of SWC ranged from 4%to 49%,which increased with rising soil depth within 40 cm but thereafter decreased.However,the high Spearman's rank coefficients(P<0.05)indicated strong temporal stability at three temporal periods.Therepresentative locations(RLs)varied in the different soil depths,which weretoe,upper and middle slope positions at 0~40,40~60 and 60~80 cm depthsof the investigated hillslope,respectively.Saturated hydraulic conductivity served as adominant factor controlling the temporal stability of SWC.The result advances our thorough understanding of hydrology and soil water resource in the Three Gorges region.

Rangeland hillslope lengths:A case study at the Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed,southeastern Arizona

Rangeland hillslopes provide much of the sediment supplied to channel systems and their lengths exert a fundamental constraint on hillslope diffusive processes.However,information regarding lengths of rangeland hillslopes,and how best to estimate them,is limited.In this study,three groups of watersheds(10 in total)were selected from the Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed according to their geology,soil and vegetation characteristics.Group 1 watersheds were at lower elevations dominated by shrubs,Group 3 were at high elevations dominated by grass,and Group 2 were mixed shrub and grass.Their hillslope lengths were calculated from 1 m-resolution DEMs using three methods:a flow routing algorithm,slope-area relationships,and inverted relationship with drainage density.Parameters that characterize the current watersheds,including Hack's exponent and coefficient,watershed shape coefficient,channel concavity and steepness,and surface roughness,were quantified and related to hillslope lengths.Results shows:(1)estimated hillslope lengths were different for the three methods and between the three groups of watersheds;(2)hillslope lengths that measured from the flow routing algorithm for the ten selected watersheds primarily ranged from 30 to 100 m,with a median value of 63.0 m,which was 20%e50%greater than those derived from slope-area plots or drainage densities;(3)hillslope lengths estimated from the flow routing method were greater in Group 3 watersheds than in Group 2 and then in Group 1 watersheds.We attributed these differences in hillslope lengths to the historic epeirogenic pulses,watershed and drainage network morphology,and differences in vegetation characteristics;(4)measured hillslope lengths from the flow routing algorithm were best correlated with hillslope relief,then surface roughness,channel steepness and concavity.These results would benefit the applications of hydrological and erosion models in rangelands.

Hydrological Responses and Flow Pathways in an Acrisol on a Forested Hillslope with a Monsoonal Subtropical Climate

The nature of subsurface flow depends largely on hydraulic conductivity of the vadoze zone, permeability of the underlying bedrock, existence of soil layers differing in hydraulic properties and macropore content, soil depth, and slope angle.Quantification of flow pathways on forested hillslopes is essential to understand hydrological dynamics and solute transport patterns.Acrisols, with their argic Bt horizons, are challenging in this respect.To further elucidate flow pathways of water and short-term variability of soil moisture patterns in Acrisols, a field study was conducted on a forested hillslope in a sub-catchment of the Tie Shan Ping(TSP)watershed, 25 km northeast of Chongqing City, China.This catchment is covered by a mixed secondary forest dominated by Masson pine(Pinus massoniana).Soil saturated hydraulic conductivity(K sat) was significantly reduced at the interface between the AB and Bt horizons(2.6 × 10^(-5) vs.1.2 × 10^(-6) m s^(-1)), which led to that the flow volume generated in the Bt horizon was of little quantitative importance compared to that in the AB horizon.There was a marked decrease in porosity between the OA and AB horizons, with a further decrease deeper in the mineral subsoil.Especially, the content of soil pores > 300 μm was higher in the AB horizon(14.3%)than in the Bt horizon(6.5%).This explained the difference in soil K sat values.This study showed that Bt horizon had limited water transport capability, forcing part of the infiltrated rainwater as interflow through the OA and AB horizons.Thus, the topsoil responded quickly to rainfall events, causing frequent cycles of saturation and aeration of soil pores.

A two-dimensional numerical model coupled with multiple hillslope hydrodynamic processes and its application to subsurface flow simulation

A numerical hillslope hydrodynamic model is of great importance in facilitating the understanding of rainfall-runoff mechanism.However,most of the currently existing models do not consider the effect of coupled hydrodynamic processes as runoff,subsurface flow or groundwater flow.In this study,the Tsinghua Hillslope Runoff Model based on multiple hydrodynamic process,THRM model,is developed,which couples with Saint Venant equation for surface runoff and Richards equation for variably saturated soil water movement(including subsurface flow and groundwater flow).A finite difference scheme with improved boundary conditions is adopted in this research.It is revealed from the simulation that the THRM model has a high computational efficiency and stability in simulating subsurface flow of the experimental hillslope,which is valuable in assessing the hillslope runoff generation mechanism.A model based sensitivity analysis is also carried out.The impact of boundary condition,grid size and initial soil moisture on simulation result and model stability are revealed,which provides insightful references to understand the mechanism of subsurface flow.