Prediction of soil water storage using temporal stability in different landscape positions on the northern loess plateau, China

Abstract Soil water storage (SWS) dynamics are affected by many factors in semiarid regions such as the Loess Plateau. Spatiotemporal variation of SWS varies greatly with different landscape positions due to the rolling and fragmented terrain landscape of the Loess Plateau. However, information on the SWS and its temporal stability at different landscape positions is lacking. In this study, hillslope, dam land and gully landscape positions were selected in a typical small watershed in the Loess Plateau. A soil water observation belt with 28 sample locations was set up at each landscape position, and temporal stability analysis was conducted using SWS data of 12 sampling events. The results showed that the variation characteristics of profile SWS are influenced by landscape position. The persistence of spatial SWS patterns in different landscape positions increases with the increase of soil depth. On each landscape position, representative locations can accurately predict their SWS based on temporal stability analysis. Moreover, the stability of SWS at the representative locations was more important than its content during the prediction process. The dominant factors that lead to the difference of temporal stability characteristics in different landscape positions varied with the change in soil depths. The results provide an important basis for vegetation reconstruction and water management in small Loess Plateau watersheds.