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Effects of rainfall intensity and slope gradient on runoff and sediment yield characteristics of bare loess soil

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Abstract

Soil erosion is a universal phenomenon on the Loess Plateau but it exhibits complex and typical mechanism which makes it difficult to understand soil loss laws on slopes. We design artificial simulated rainfall experiments including six rainfall intensities (45, 60, 75, 90, 105, 120 mm/h) and five slopes (5°, 10°, 15°, 20°, 25°) to reveal the fundamental changing trends of runoff and sediment yield on bare loess soil. Here, we show that the runoff yield within the initial 15 min increased rapidly and its trend gradually became stable. Trends of sediment yield under different rainfall intensities are various. The linear correlation between runoff and rainfall intensity is obvious for different slopes, but the correlations between sediment yield and rainfall intensity are weak. Runoff and sediment yield on the slope surface both presents an increasing trend when the rainfall intensity increases from 45 mm/h to 120 mm/h, but the increasing trend of runoff yield is higher than that of sediment yield. The sediment yield also has an overall increasing trend when the slope changes from 5° to 25°, but the trend of runoff yield is not obvious. Our results may provide data support and underlying insights needed to guide the management of soil conservation planning on the Loess Plateau.

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Funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51679206, 51309194), Zhongying Youth Scholars of Northwest A&F University (Z111021720), Youth Science and Technology Nova Project in Shaanxi Province (2017KJXX-91), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2452016120), Arid meteorological science research-the process and mechanism of drought disaster in northern China (201506001), Special Research Foundation for Young teachers (2452015374), International Science and Technology Cooperation Funds (A213021603). This paper is supported by the National Fund for Studying Abroad.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Agricultural Soil and Water Engineering in Arid and Semiarid Areas Ministry of Education, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China

    Lei Wu, Mengling Peng, Shanshan Qiao & Xiao-yi Ma

  2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA

    Lei Wu

  3. College of Water Resources and Architectural Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Taicheng Road, Yangling, 712100, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China

    Lei Wu, Mengling Peng, Shanshan Qiao & Xiao-yi Ma

  4. State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China

    Mengling Peng & Shanshan Qiao

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  1. Lei Wu
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  2. Mengling Peng
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Correspondence to Lei Wu.

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Wu, L., Peng, M., Qiao, S. et al. Effects of rainfall intensity and slope gradient on runoff and sediment yield characteristics of bare loess soil. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25, 3480–3487 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-0713-8

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