Despite being an essential component of gully systems, discontinuous gullies have received less attention for their complex formation mechanisms and often overlooked sediment yield processes. Factorial analysis helps elucidate gullying processes, but relevant studies on discontinuous gullies are currently lacking, especially at large scales. Spoon gullies, characterized by fat heads and thin tails, are a typical type of discontinuous hillslope gully found extensively on the Loess Plateau of China. Based on an inventory of 4077 spoon gullies and 13 geo-environmental factors, variations in factor dominance influencing the gully erosion were explored within a global-local framework, using Geodetector, geographically weighted regression, and spatially constrained multivariate clustering. Among individual factors, continuous gully density explained 41.6% of the spatial distribution of spoon gullies, followed by normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), soil characteristics, and precipitation, ranging from 12.0% to 18.6%, while land use and topography exerted a negligible effect. The interaction of two factors showed a nonlinear enhancement in explanatory power, reaching 77.1%, 71.8%, and 69.7% when combining continuous gully density with loess thickness, precipitation, and NDVI, respectively. Moreover, except for generally negative regression coefficients of NDVI, other factors showed positive and negative values, indicating significant spatial variability in their effects on spoon gullies. Seven spoon gully clusters were thereby identified, each dominated by an evident factor among continuous gully density, precipitation, loess thickness, and soil texture. A spoon gully susceptibility map comprising five levels was further produced under a model accuracy of 85.8%, suggesting reliable performance in predicting gully occurrence. Overall, the influence of factors on spoon gully development exhibit remarkable complexities, mainly depending on spatial variation in the intricate interactions among factors and their scale-dependent behaviors. This study provides new insights into the spatial heterogeneity of discontinuous gullies at a regional scale and offers implications for developing targeted strategies against gully erosion. © 2024

Evapotranspiration (ET) is a major factor in the water cycle that is most directly affected by land use and climate change. The accurate estimation of the daily ET is an important link in the study of its hydrological and ecological interaction, hydrological cycle, and oasis ecosystem management in arid and semi-arid regions. Considering astronomical, atmospheric (i.e., air molecules, water vapor, and cloud), and surface factors (i.e., slope, aspect, terrain shading, and surface coverage), the new daily global solar radiation (GSR)model is proposed, based on Iqbal model C, DEM, TM, and MODIS data. The new model has been coupled with SEBAL to better estimate ET. The daily surface ET of June 21-24, 2009, in Heihe River Basin is simulated. The results are as follows: (1) the improved daily GSR mean absolute bias error (MABE) is 9 W/m2, and the mean absolute relative bias error (MARBE) is 2.5%. The MABE of the daily GSR using the SEBAL model is 122.2 W/m2, and the MARBE is 33.9%. (2) The improved SEBAL MABE of farmland ET decreases from 2.1 mm (original scheme) to 0.6 mm (improved scheme), and the MARBE declines from 44 to 13% accordingly. Moreover, the spatiotemporal resolution of the ET simulation is effectively improved by the TM/MODIS hybrid strategy. (3) All highest ET value appeared in all types of water bodies, followed by farmland, forest, wetland, and residential areas, and the lowest values appeared over bare rock land. The new results provide better theoretical basis and scientific guidance for ecosystem protection and sustainable utilization of water resources.

The study of gully characteristics is one of the most effective ways to explore the loess landform development in the Loess Plateau of China. However, current studies mostly focus on gullies' overall characteristics and ignore the different composition of the whole gully system. Therefore, a new perspective is provided in this paper for exploring loess landform development from the population characteristics of the gully system. Firstly, different types of gullies were extracted based on DEM and high-resolution images in three sample watersheds, including hillslope ephemeral gully, bank gully and different-level valley gully. Secondly, population characteristics from the amount, length, age structure and convergent relationship were calculated and analyzed by referring to the biological population in ecology. Finally, the development stages of loess landform in three watersheds were explored based on their population characteristics. The results showed that: (1) The population characteristics, including number density, length density, age structure and convergence, were obviously different in three sample watersheds. (2) The development differences of three watersheds were obtained by synthesizing all population characteristics: Linjiajian was the most developed and oldest watershed, followed by Yangjiaju and then Wangjiagou. (3) The comparison based on the existing soil erosion intensity map and predisposing factors proved that the findings of this paper were more reasonable than that of the traditional hypsometric integral. This research provides a new quantitative-based approach to explore the development degree of loess landform from the gully population, and is a beneficial attempt to combine geomorphology and ecology, further supplementing and improving the study of loess landform development.

Gullies characterized by frequent material exchanges and dramatic morphological changes sculpt fragmented surface landscapes and generate severe soil erosion, yet research on discontinuous gullies is currently lacking on the Loess Plateau of China. A special kind of discontinuous gully isolated on a hillslope, termed a spoon gully, was observed during a field investigation on the Loess Plateau. Spoon gullies are permanent gullies that are basically spoon-shaped with fat heads and thin tails. The confluences between spoon gullies and other gullies mainly occur in the subsurface. According to image interpretations and field verifications, 4077 spoon gullies were recognized on the Loess Plateau. These gullies were mainly distributed in the western part and northern fringes of the Loess Plateau with an obvious spatial clustering tendency, forming four concentrated areas with high gully densities. The topography distinctly affects the spatial distribution of spoon gullies. A total of 81.92% of the spoon gullies were located on slopes of 10-30 degrees, and 73.29% of these gullies were located on semi-sunny or semi-shady slopes. Furthermore, the spatial distribution of spoon gullies was associated with loess landforms and soil erosion intensities. A total of 66.37% of the spoon gullies occurred in loess ridge, loess tableland, or loess hill regions, and more than 50% of them arose in areas of strong or moderate water erosion. Overall, spoon gullies were mainly distributed in areas where continuous gullies developed insufficiently, and this finding can be regarded as the integrated result of precipitation, loess thickness and texture, vegetation coverage, and agricultural activities, suggesting that spoon gullies may represent an early stage in the development of continuous loess gully systems. These results not only provide new insights for understanding the formation and evolution of gully landforms but also have significant implications for soil erosion management on the Loess Plateau.

Lacunarity analysis is frequently used in multiscale and spatial pattern studies.However,the explanation for the lacunarity analysis results is limited mainly at a qualitative description level.In other words,this app

数字地形分析（DTA）是地理信息科学（GIS）研究的热点。但是,当前基于数字高程模型（DEM）的数字地形分析在地貌学研究中存在重形态轻机理、重现象轻过程、重地上轻地下等问题,急需从单一的地貌形态分析,迈向面向成因、过程与机理等地貌学本源问题的研究转变。据此,本文系统梳理了面向地貌学本源的数字地形分析的相关研究现状,并从地貌学本源认识、地貌形态建模、地形因子提取、以及其他地形分析方法等研究进行了系统的回顾、梳理与分析。研究表明,基于DEM的数字地形分析虽具有地貌特征分析的潜力与优势,但是,数字地形分析存在数据表达与分析模式上的先天缺陷,亟待通过基础理论与关键技术的突破,实现理论与方法的创新发展,实现从"坡面"走向"区域",从"形态"走向"过程",从"地形"走向"地貌"。而当今地球系统科学的研究发展态势也到了数字地形分析研究从重视地貌形态走向揭示地貌学本源的关键阶段。因此,本文从DEM数据模型增值、地形因子及其地形空间关系、以及宏观地形分析等侧面展望了面向地貌学本源的数字地形分析研究。当今基于DEM的数字地形分析研究,正像当前的GIS是否能够真正支撑地理学发展一样,已经处于一个非常关键的十字路口。面向地貌学本源的数字地形分析研究思路可望成为地理信息科学领域理论与方法创新的一次重要探索与实践。

沟谷是黄土高原物质交换最频繁,形态变化最剧烈的区域。在内外营力的共同作用下,不同发育阶段的各类沟谷塑造了黄土高原"千沟万壑"的独特地貌景观。在黄土高原沟壑系统中,广泛分布着一类特殊的黄土勺状沟壑,目前对其成因、发育过程与机理以及空间分布特征等的认知明显不足。本文以高分辨率遥感影像和DEM数据作为数据源,在大量野外调查和专家知识的基础上,首先提出了黄土勺状沟壑的概念,指出黄土勺状沟壑是独立发育于黄土坡面上的永久性沟谷。其次,从沟壑形态、汇流关系、侵蚀过程、分布特征等方面分析了黄土勺状沟壑区别于其他已有沟壑的特点。进而,从发育形态、发育规模、发育部位等角度对黄土勺状沟壑进行了分类,深化了对勺状沟壑的认识。再次,基于空代时理论,定量分析了黄土勺状沟壑发育过程的形态演变特征,进一步探讨了黄土勺状沟壑发育过程,论证了黄土勺状沟壑是黄土切沟的初期阶段。最后,在系统梳理总结勺状沟壑的特征及分类的基础上,提出了黄土勺状沟壑的发育过程设想,指出勺状沟壑的形成离不开黄土陷穴和暗穴的生成和发育,勺状沟壑的进一步发育伴随着水力侵蚀和重力侵蚀过程。勺沟尾部变细甚至消失,不能发育成更大规模的切沟,与地下暗穴、黄土渗透率、降雨条件以及地表覆盖有关。本文成果期望为进一步完善黄土沟谷地貌发育和侵蚀过程与机理等认识做出贡献,同时对黄土高原水土保持工作提供参考。

Digital terrain analysis (DTA) is one of the most important contents in the research of geographical information science (GIS). However, on the basis of the digital elevation model (DEM), many problems exist in the current research of DTA in geomorphological studies. For instance, the current DTA research appears to be focused more on morphology, phenomenon, and modern surface rather than mechanism, process, and underlying terrain. The current DTA research needs to be urgently transformed from the study of landform morphology to one focusing on landform process and mechanism. On this basis, this study summarizes the current research status of geomorphology-oriented DTA and systematically reviews and analyzes the research about the knowledge of geomorphological ontology, terrain modeling, terrain derivative calculation, and terrain analytical methods. With the help of DEM data, DTA research has the advantage of carrying out geomorphological studies from the perspective of surface morphology. However, the study of DTA has inherent defects in terms of data expression and analytic patterns. Thus, breakthroughs in basic theories and key technologies are necessary. Moreover, scholars need to realize that DTA research must be transformed from phenomenon to mechanism, from morphology to process, and from terrain to landform. At present, the research development of earth science has reached the critical stage in which the DTA research should focus more on geomorphological ontology. Consequently, this study proposes several prospects of geomorphology-oriented DTA from the aspects of value-added DEM data model, terrain derivatives and their spatial relations, and macro-terrain analysis. The study of DTA based on DEM is at a critical period along with the issue on whether the current GIS technology can truly support the development of geography. The research idea of geomorphology-oriented DTA is expected to be an important exploration and practice in the field of GIS.