Assessing the impacts of microtopography on soil erosion under simulated rainfall, using a multifractal approach

Abstract This study aimed to investigate the changing characteristics of microrelief of purple soil and its erosional response during successive stages of water erosion, including splash erosion, sheet erosion, and rill erosion. Methods employed included a rainfall simulator and the use of a laser scanner to generate a digital elevation model. Three artificial tillage practices, including conventional tillage (CT), artificial digging (AD), and ridge tillage (RT), were used to simulate different microrelief patterns. Eighteen artificial rainfall experiments were conducted using three 2 × 1 m boxes with a rainfall intensity of 1.5 mm min −1 on a 15° slope. The results showed that the soil roughness (SR) index values for the tillage slopes were RT > AD > CT. The combined effects of detachment by raindrop impact and transport by run‐off decreased the SR index, whereas rill erosion increased the SR index during rainfall event. Microtopography and drainage networks have strong multifractal behaviours. The multifractal parameters of microtopography reflect the overall characteristics as well as the characteristics of the local soil surface. Within a certain range of threshold values, higher microrelief causes less soil erosion. However, when the parameters of spatial heterogeneity of microtopography exceed the threshold values, a higher degree of microrelief can increase soil erosion. These results help clarify the effect of microtopography on soil erosion and provide a theoretical foundation to guide future tillage practices on sloping farmland of purple soil.