Relationships between Soil Depth and Terrain Attributes in a Semi Arid Hilly Region in Western Iran

• Published in: Journal of mountain science Vol. 10; no. 1; pp. 163 - 172
• Main Authors: Mehnatkesh, Abdolmohammad, Ayoubi, Shamsollah, Jalalian, Ahmad, Sahrawat, Kanwar L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Heidelberg SP Science Press 01.02.2013; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Arid zones; Catchment areas; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Ecology; Environment; Geography; Landscape ecology; Mountain regions; Mountains; Sediment transport; Soil depth; Soil sciences; Soil surveys; 伊朗; 半干旱丘陵区; 土壤深度; 地形; 多元线性回归分析; 属性; 西部; 黄土高原丘陵沟壑区; Iran; Digital elevation model; Topographic attributes; Soil depth prediction; Soil-landscape model
• ISSN: 1672-6316; 1993-0321; 1008-2786
• DOI: 10.1007/s11629-013-2427-9

Soil depth generally varies in mountainous regions in rather complex ways.Conventional soil survey methods for evaluating the soil depth in mountainous and hilly regions require a lot of time,effort and consequently relatively large budget to perform.This study was conducted to explore the relationships between soil depth and topographic attributes in a hilly region in western Iran.For this,one hundred sampling points were selected using randomly stratified methodology,and considering all geomorphic surfaces including summit,shoulder,backslope,footslope and toeslope;and soil depth was actually measured.Eleven primary and secondary topographic attributes were derived from the digital elevation model（DEM） at the study area.The result of multiple linear regression indicated that slope,wetness index,catchment area and sediment transport index,which were included in the model,could explain about 76 % of total variability in soil depth at the selected site.This proposed approach may be applicable to other hilly regions in the semi-arid areas at a larger scale.