Variability of soil water-physical properties in a small catchment of the Loess Plateau, China

Data from the Donggou small catchment, located in a typical wind-water erosion crisscross zone on the Loess Plateau of China, illustrate the spatial variability of soil water-physical properties of different soil depths. The results revealed that except for soil bulk density in the small catchment, saturated hydraulic conductivity and soil moisture presented moderate variability, and varied with land uses. All of the variables had moderate spatial autocorrelation. These results were consistent with the land use pattern of the catchment. The mixed land uses patterns developed by the spatial arrangement of different land uses could trap the runoff and sediments, which ultimately formed the plaque mosaic patterns of soil physical and chemical properties in the catchment. The study built the spatial multiple regression-prediction models of soil moisture. There were different variables entered to the prediction models, which meant that at different measured times and depths, there were different environmental factors that controlled the spatial variability of soil moisture.