Variation of soil moisture with slope aspect and position in a small agricultural watershed in the typical black soil region
Su Zilong, Zhang Guanghui, Yu Yan
(1.School of Geography, Beijing Normal University, 100875, Beijing, China;
2.Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences & Ministry of Water Resources, 712100, Yangling, Shaanxi, China)
Abstract：Soil moisture is affected by land use type, topography and geomorphology, soil texture and other factors. A small agricultural watershed in the typical black region was selected as the study area to analyze the variation of soil moisture at different slope aspects and positions by field experiment. The results were as follows. 1) In the depth range of 0-100cm, soil moisture content on the semi-shady slopes was lower than that on sunny and semi-sunny slopes; profile variation trends of soil moisture content on the three types of slopes differed, and the effect of slope aspect on soil moisture content was significant only in the depth 0-35cm. 2) On each type of slope, the soil moisture content followed the order of lower slope＞upper slope＞middle slope, the profile variation of soil moisture content presented different trends at different slope positions of each slope aspect, and the effect of slope position on soil moisture content of sunny and semi-shady slopes was significant within the measurement range, and it was also significant on the semi-sunny slope in depth 25-100cm, but not significant in 0-25cm in this slope aspect. Our research results could provide theoretical basis for reasonable allocation of crops and management of farmland soil moisture.
2013, Vol. 11 
