Seasonal dynamics and spatial patterns of soil moisture in a loess catchment

Abstract 2) catchment on the Chinese Loess Plateau. The median soil moisture was computed for each month and depth for each monitoring site as a measure of the typical soil moisture conditions. Seasonal changes in soil moisture were mainly concentrated in the shallow (0–100 cm) soil, with a clear seasonal separation between wet conditions in October–March and dry conditions in May–July, even though precipitation is highest in July–August. Soil moisture was higher on the northwest-facing slopes due to increased drying from solar radiation on the southeast-facing slopes. This effect of slope aspect was greater between October and March, when the zenith angle of the sun was lower and the aspect-dependent difference in solar radiation reaching the surface was larger. The wetter, northwest-facing slopes were also characterized by larger annual soil moisture storage changes. Soil texture was nearly uniform across both slopes, and soil moisture was not correlated with the topographic wetness index, suggesting that variations in evapotranspiration dominated the spatial pattern of soil moisture in shallow soils under both wet and dry conditions. Water balance calculations indicate that over 90 % of the annual precipitation was seasonally cycled in the soil between 0 and 300 cm, suggesting that only a minor fraction infiltrates to groundwater and becomes streamflow. Our findings may be broadly applicable to loess regions with monsoonal climates and may have practical implications for catchment-scale hydrologic modeling and the design of soil moisture monitoring networks.

Object Details

• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Seasonal dynamics and spatial patterns of soil moisture in a loess catchment ; volume:28 ; number:1 ; year:2024 ; pages:205-216 ; extent:12 ; Hydrology and earth system sciences ; 28, Heft 1 (2024), 205-216 (gesamt 12)

Contributors, Places and Time

• Creator: Liu, Shaozhen ; Meerveld, Ilja van ; Zhao, Yali ; Wang, Yunqiang ; Kirchner, James

Further information

• DOI: 10.5194/hess-28-205-2024
• URN: urn:nbn:de:101:1-2024011803270693952860
• Rights: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 15.08.2025, 7:22 AM CEST