In China′s Loess Plateau area, gully head is the most active zone of a drainage system in gully areas. The differentiation of loess gully head follows geospatial patterns and reflects the process of the loess landfor...In China′s Loess Plateau area, gully head is the most active zone of a drainage system in gully areas. The differentiation of loess gully head follows geospatial patterns and reflects the process of the loess landform development and evolution of its drainage system to some extent. In this study, the geomorphic meaning, basic characteristics, morphological structure and the basic types of loess gully heads were systematically analysed. Then, the loess gully head′s conceptual model was established, and an extraction method based on Digital Elevation Model(DEM) for loess gully head features and elements was proposed. Through analysing the achieved statistics of loess gully head features, loess gully heads have apparently similar and different characteristics depending on the different loess landforms where they are found. The loess head characteristics reflect their growth period and evolution tendency to a certain degree, and they indirectly represent evolutionary mechanisms. In addition, the loess gully developmental stages and the evolutionary processes can be deduced by using loess gully head characteristics. This study is of great significance for development and improvement of the theoretical system for describing loess gully landforms.展开更多
A simulated loess watershed, where the loess material and relief properly represent the true loess surface, is adopted to investigate the variation in slope spectrum with loess watershed evolution. The evolution of th...A simulated loess watershed, where the loess material and relief properly represent the true loess surface, is adopted to investigate the variation in slope spectrum with loess watershed evolution. The evolution of the simulated loess watershed was driven by the exogenetic force of artificial rainfall. For a period of three months, twenty artificial rainfall events with different intensities and durations were carried out. In the process, nine DEM data sets, each with 10mm grid resolution, were established by the method of close-range photogrammetry. The slope spectra were then extracted from these DEMs. Subsequent series of carefully designed quantitative analyses indicated a strong relationship between the slope spectrum and the evolution of the simulated loess watershed. Quantitative indices of the slope spectrum varied regularly following the evolution of the simulated loess watershed. Mean slope, slope spectrum information entropy （H）, terrain driving force （Td）, Mean patch area （AREA_MN）, Contagion Index （CONTAG）, and Patch Cohesion Index （COHESION） kept increasing following the evolution of the simulated watershed, while skewness （S）, Perimeter-Area Fractal Dimension （PAFRAC）, and Interspersion and Juxtaposition Index （IJl） represented an opposite trend. All the indices changed actively in the early and active development periods, but slowly in the stable development periods. These experimental results indicate that the time series of slope spectra was able to effectively depict the slope distribution of the simulated loess watershed, thus presenting a potential method for model- ing loess landforms.展开更多
基金Under the auspices of National Youth Science Foundation of China(No.41001294)Key Project of National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.40930531)Research Fund of State Key Laboratory Resources and Environment Information System(No.2010KF0002SA)
文摘In China′s Loess Plateau area, gully head is the most active zone of a drainage system in gully areas. The differentiation of loess gully head follows geospatial patterns and reflects the process of the loess landform development and evolution of its drainage system to some extent. In this study, the geomorphic meaning, basic characteristics, morphological structure and the basic types of loess gully heads were systematically analysed. Then, the loess gully head′s conceptual model was established, and an extraction method based on Digital Elevation Model(DEM) for loess gully head features and elements was proposed. Through analysing the achieved statistics of loess gully head features, loess gully heads have apparently similar and different characteristics depending on the different loess landforms where they are found. The loess head characteristics reflect their growth period and evolution tendency to a certain degree, and they indirectly represent evolutionary mechanisms. In addition, the loess gully developmental stages and the evolutionary processes can be deduced by using loess gully head characteristics. This study is of great significance for development and improvement of the theoretical system for describing loess gully landforms.
基金We are grateful for the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China （Grant Nos. 41171299 and 41271438）, the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions （164320H116） and the foundation of State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Fanning on the Loess Plateau （10501-1217, K318009902-13）. We are also grateful to Dr. Josef Strobl for his constructive critique of the manuscript. The constructive criticisms and suggestions from anonymous reviewers are also gratefully acknowledged.
文摘A simulated loess watershed, where the loess material and relief properly represent the true loess surface, is adopted to investigate the variation in slope spectrum with loess watershed evolution. The evolution of the simulated loess watershed was driven by the exogenetic force of artificial rainfall. For a period of three months, twenty artificial rainfall events with different intensities and durations were carried out. In the process, nine DEM data sets, each with 10mm grid resolution, were established by the method of close-range photogrammetry. The slope spectra were then extracted from these DEMs. Subsequent series of carefully designed quantitative analyses indicated a strong relationship between the slope spectrum and the evolution of the simulated loess watershed. Quantitative indices of the slope spectrum varied regularly following the evolution of the simulated loess watershed. Mean slope, slope spectrum information entropy （H）, terrain driving force （Td）, Mean patch area （AREA_MN）, Contagion Index （CONTAG）, and Patch Cohesion Index （COHESION） kept increasing following the evolution of the simulated watershed, while skewness （S）, Perimeter-Area Fractal Dimension （PAFRAC）, and Interspersion and Juxtaposition Index （IJl） represented an opposite trend. All the indices changed actively in the early and active development periods, but slowly in the stable development periods. These experimental results indicate that the time series of slope spectra was able to effectively depict the slope distribution of the simulated loess watershed, thus presenting a potential method for model- ing loess landforms.
