Quantitative description of rill morphology on the rainfall-driven loess hillslope by fractal and entropy
Zhang Pan, Yao Wenyi, Chen Wei
1. Yellow River Institute of Hydraulic Research,Key Laboratory of Soil and Water Loss Process and Control on the Loess Plateau,MWR, 450003, Zhengzhou, China; 2. College of Water Conservancy and Hydropower Engineering, Hohai University, 210098, Nanjing, China; 3. The Yellow River Xiaolangdi Water Investment Company Limited, 450003,Zhengzhou, China
It is insufficient to reveal the morphological characteristics of rill development only by using fractal theory. Geomorphologic comentropy should also be introduced to reflect the developmental stages of rill. Combining the fractal theory with geomorphologic comentropy, we studied systematically the relationship between fractal structure of rill network, geomorphologic comentropy and the rill morphology evolution. Case analysis shows that the complexity of the rill network can be quantified accurately by rill fractal dimension, but its relationship with erosion amount is unsatisfactory. The geomorphologic comentropy is highly correlated with erosion amount, and can be used as an important parameter in the analysis of slope morphological system.
2014, Vol. 12 
