Sloping Fields Research Articles

Deep neural networks to predict autonomous ground vehicle behavior on sloping terrain field

AbstractConventional large agricultural machinery or implements are unsafe and unsuitable to operate on slopes or 10%. Tractor rollovers are frequent on slopes, precluding farming on arable hills, uneven or highly sloped land. Therefore, a fleet of autonomous ground vehicles (AGV) is proposed to cultivate highly sloped land (). The fleet aims to expand agricultural land to the slopes and to strengths the human‐robot collaboration in an unsafe sloped environment. However, the fleet's success largely depends on vehicle behavior models regarding traction, mobility, and energy consumption on varying slopes. The vehicle intelligent behavior models are essential and would solve multiple objectives ranging from simulations to path planning & navigation. Therefore, this study aimed to build a deep learning‐based vehicle behavior models on sloping terrain. A standard drawbar test was performed on a single AGV operating on an actual sloped field at varying speeds and load conditions. The drawbar test quantified the AGV's behavior on slopes in metrics related to traction (traction efficiency), mobility (travel reduction), and energy consumption (power number). Deep learning‐based models were developed from the experimental data to predict the AGV's behavior on slopes as a function of vehicle velocity, drawbar, and slope. A special model called the proposed model, which combined multiple deep neural networks with a mixture of Gaussians, was developed and trained with a hybrid training method. The proposed model consistently outperformed the other well‐known machine learning models. This study explored the capabilities of machine learning algorithms to simulate the behavior of small‐track vehicle or AGV on sloping terrain. The fleet aims to provide safer agriculture keeping human safety in focus, and the developed predictive vehicle behavior models would empower the fleet's operation on currently unsafe sloped terrain by assisting in vehicle path planning, route optimization, and decision making.

Rapid assessment of slope deformation in 3D point cloud considering feature-based simplification and deformed area extraction

Calculating deformation values and determining deformation areas are essential for slope monitoring and safety management. Recently, terrestrial laser scanning has been widely used for deformation monitoring due to to its speed and efficiency. However, handling a large amount of point cloud data to obtain the deformed area is still challenging. To rapidly evaluate slope deformation information, this study proposes a simplification algorithm for point cloud data based on multi-parameter feature preservation. The proposed method retains feature points (i.e. inflection points and edge points) and simplifies data with the octree structure. In addition, a method based on cloud-to-mesh for displacement is used where the winding number is introduced for the signed function. Next, the deformed area over the level of detection is extracted using density-based spatial clustering for applications with a noise clustering algorithm. To verify the reduction method, two types of slope field data are used for experiments. The results reveal that the proposed point cloud approach is superior to the conventional algorithms. Furthermore, the highway slope in Mianyang is selected as a case study to validate the performance of the proposed method. The entire monitoring area is stable with a deformation of approximately 0.43 mm, and only four regions are deformed over the study period. When the mean displacement value is considered in different deformation regions, the minimum deformation is −82.02 mm and the maximum deformation is 85.31 mm. Moreover, comparative experiments on deformation calculation are conducted and reveal the superior performance of the proposed method.

Effects of the Rainfall Intensity and Slope Gradient on Soil Erosion and Nitrogen Loss on the Sloping Fields of Miyun Reservoir.

Environmental loss is primarily caused by soil, water, and nutrient loss, and runoff is associated with nutrient transport and sediment loss. Most existing studies have focused on one influencing factor, namely slope gradient or rainfall intensity, for slope erosion and nutrient loss, but the joint effects of the two factors have rarely been researched. In this context, the impact of slope gradients (0°, 5°, 10°, and 15°) and rainfall intensities (30, 40, 50, 60, 70, and 80 mm/h) on soil erosion and nutrient loss on the sloping fields of Miyun Reservoir were explored using the indoor artificial rainfall simulation testing system. Based on the results of the study, the variation of runoff coefficient with slope gradient was not noticeable for rainfall intensities <40 mm/h; however, for rainfall intensities >40 mm/h, the increased range of runoff coefficient doubled, and the increase was the fastest under 0° among the four slope gradients. The slope surface runoff depth and runoff rate showed positive correlations with the rainfall intensity (r = 0.875, p < 0.01) and a negative correlation with the slope gradient. In addition, the cumulative sediment yield was positively related to the slope gradient and rainfall intensity (r > 0.464, p < 0.05). Moreover, the slope surface runoff-associated and sediment-associated loss rates of total nitrogen (TN) rose as the rainfall intensity or slope gradient increased, and significant linear positive correlations were found between the runoff-associated TN loss rate (NLr) and the runoff intensity and between the sediment-associated NLr and the erosion intensity. In addition, there were positive linear correlations between slope runoff-associated or sediment-associated TN loss volumes and rainfall intensity, surface runoff, and sediment loss volumes, which were highly remarkable. The slope gradient had a significant positive correlation with the slope surface runoff-associated TN loss at 0.05 (r = 0.452) and a significant positive correlation with the sediment-associated TN loss at the level of 0.01 (r = 0.591). The rainfall intensity exhibited extremely positive correlations with the slope surface runoff-associated and sediment-associated TN loss at 0.01 (r = 0.717 and 0.629) Slope gradients have less effect on nitrogen loss on sloped fields than rainfall intensity, mainly because rainfall intensity affects runoff depth. Based on the findings of this study, Miyun Reservoir may be able to improve nitrogen loss prevention and control.

Co-linear common-path shearography with a zero-approaching shear amount and separate control of the spatial carrier for single-shot phase measurement.

A co-linear common-path shearography is proposed with spatial phase shift for single-shot phase measurement. The co-linear common-path configuration brings an enhanced robustness and stability of the measuring system, because the two laterally sheared interfering object waves propagate essentially along the same path, which cancels out the disturbance and noise in surroundings. Two functional features, which break through the limitations in conventional co-linear common-path shearography, are proposed and implemented, namely the zero-approaching shear amount and the separate control of the spatial carrier. Seldom shearography configured by co-linear common-path structure possesses with these two features, because the linearly aligned optics restricts the control parameters in regards to the shear amount and the spatial carrier. In the proposed scheme, an intermediate real image plane is created in the linearly aligned light path to address the issue of zero-approaching shear amount. A 4-f imaging system is embedded with an aperture in between to implement a separate control of the spatial carrier. The zero-approaching shear amount provides the sufficiently small shear to make sure the strain or slope field of complex deformation is resolvable. Meanwhile, the separate control of the spatial carrier further guarantees a well-distributed spatial frequency spectrum when the required zero-approaching shear amount is configured.

Ridge forming machine for sowing cereals on sloping fields

Traditional technologies and machines for sowing cereals lead to increased water erosion on sloping fields and the washout of crops, respectively, causing a sharp decline in yields. The authors proposed anti-erosion technology and machinery for sowing cereals on sloping fields. The research aims to justify the parameters of the ridge forming machine for sowing cereals on sloping fields. The basic principles and methods of classical mechanics, mathematical analysis, and statistics were used in this study. Based on theoretical studies, analytical dependences for determining the parameters of a ridge forming machine in the form of a flat half-disk have been obtained. It was found that the ridge spreader's radius should be 19.5 cm, its height should be 39 cm, and the angle of the disk set to the direction of movement should be within the range of 28-30°.

Обработка почвы и посев зерновых культур на склоновых полях

Soil degradation due to water erosion accompanied by the loss of fertility results in reduced grain crop yields. To prevent water erosion on sloping fields during soil tillage and the sowing of grain crops, the authors offer an appropriate technology and a combined tool. The combine tool implements tillage and strip sowing by forming mini-terraces. Their width is determined by the installation of furrow formers at a distance from each other, which corresponds to the sowing width of six seed rows. Combined coulters sow cereals in two rows on the soil surface, in three rows – to a depth of 6 to 8 cm, in the last row – to a depth of 14 to 15 cm. Furrow shapers form anti-erosion furrows to a depth of 9 cm over the rows with seeds, sown to a depth of 14 to 15 cm and form ridges over the seeds sown on the surface. Ridges and furrows prevent water erosion on the slope crop fields. The ridge former is installed at an angle of 30 to 33° to the travel direction of the machine. The distance between ripper tines of the first and second rows shall be not less than 45 cm, and between cultivator teeth and the ridge former is not less than 90 cm. The proposed technology and the developed combined tool can reduce the direct energy consumption for tillage and the sowing of grain crops by 32%.

THE PECULIARITIES OF THE MAIN ORE-FORMING COMPONENTS DISTRIBUTION IN THE FILIZCHAY FIELD OF THE SOUTHERN SLOPE OF THE GREATER CAUCASUS

The article has been devoted to the distribution of the main ore-forming components in Filizchay field of the southern slope of the Greater Caucasus. 3D model of the mineral elements of Filizchay field has been using "Leapfrog GEO" program. Analysis of the isothicknesses map clearly shows that the eastern flank of the deeper, shallow dipping part of the deposit is characterized by the greatest thickness where its thickness exceeds practically universally average value of this parameter according to the field. It has been found that zinc and lead distributions repeat practically each other. The western half of the body differs sharply from the eastern half by stable high (more than average value) contents. The overwhelming majority of zinc concentrations minimums and nearly all lead minimums are located in the eastern half which is generally characterized by the contents being below average. According to the copper concentrations distribution the deposit is very clearly divided into two parts – the southeastern part being thicker and richer and the northwestern part being relatively less thick and with contents being below average according to the field. The comparison of silver and lead isocontents' maps indicates a close relationship of both elements as evidenced by the very similar nature of their spatial distribution within the deposit. As well as for lead one can be generally distinguish two halves in it that are generally differed from each other in the intensity of the silver mineralization – the northwestern being richer and the southeastern being relatively poorer. The boundary between these parts repeats mainly the boundary determined for lead not only according to the spatial position but also according to the main details of the outline. All the maxima of the silver mineralization are located in the northwestern half of the field, the most of which are located on the upper horizons. According to the intensity degree of the zinc, lead and silver mineralization manifestation in the deposit, two parts can be distinguished: the western one is richer where almost all maxima are concentrated and the eastern one is poorer which accounts for the most of the minima. The boundary between them passes approximately in the middle part of the body from the upper to the lower horizons; it nearly coincides with the direction of its fall and it is distinguished by complex outlines. The frequent isolines repeatability of the zinc and lead contents, the close spatial position of their maxima centers suggest a close positive correlation between them.

Placement of plow working bodies for plowing soil slopes

The paper studies the direction turnover layers along slope and placement of working bodies on a plow for plowing slope fields. The diagrams of the turnover of layers on the slope and the layout of the working bodies on the plow are given. It is proved that intermittent grooves ridges, according to agro technical requirements, it is necessary to rotate the layers downhill. It was found that when installing a cut-out spherical disk behind the front cases, a groove is formed above the a is under it. The subsequent layer wrapped in an even body. At the same time, rainwater is sub-arable of soil, which prevents water erosion. The results of one-factor experiments using strain-measuring methods are presented. It has been established that to ensure complete turnover of the layers within their own furrow by the hulls and the formation of the required ridges and intermittent grooves longitudinal distance between and toe even-numbered body ploughshare should be at least 110 cm.

Centrifuge Model Test Study on the Mutual Effect of Water Level Variation and Excavation on the Deformation and Failure of Slopes

The stability level and deformation characteristics of slopes are influenced by the mutual effect of various loads. Slopes often experience a coupling application of water level variation and excavation. A series of centrifuge model tests were carried out to observe the response of slopes under different sequences of water level variation and excavation. An image-based measurement system is used to measure the full displacement field of slopes, analyze the failure sequence of tests, and clarify the failure mechanism of slopes under different sequences. The loading sequence significantly influences the deformation and failure characteristics of the slope. It has been proven that slip surfaces form from the bottom to the top of slopes. The safety limit of the slope is greater under the water level variation-excavation sequence than under the opposite sequence. The slope deformation appears in a limited region that expands during the test. The influence mechanism of water level variation is analyzed, and it is found that water level variation increases the deformation in an area near the slope surface under excavation conditions. The failure mechanism of the slope under excavation and water level variation can be illustrated by significant coupling processes of deformation localization and local failure. The inversion of the loading sequence changes the location of deformation localization and thus induces variation in the position of the slip surface.

Designing Trickle Irrigation Systems in Sloping Fields without Pressure-Compensating Emitters: Application of the IRRILAB Software

Designing Trickle Irrigation Systems in Sloping Fields without Pressure-Compensating Emitters: Application of the IRRILAB Software

Progressively thawed soil layers differed in microbial properties and CO2 emission rates

Freeze–thaw events can profoundly reorganise water, salts, and nutrients within the soil matrix, which consequently disturbs soil microbes and perturbs carbon metabolism. However, it remains unclear how soil microbial properties differentiate as they progressively thaw and detach from the still frozen layer as often occurs in a sloped field. In this study, a Mollisol (< 0.5 mm) was refilled into columns and frozen at −15 °C for 12 h. To simulate detachment while thawing, the frozen soil columns were progressively peeled off, from the outer to the inner core, into six layers (T1 ∼ T6). Our results show that: (1) The soil water content significantly declined from 95.3% in the outermost layer T1 to the inner core T6 of 24.7%, whilst the soil electrical conductivity evidently increased from 45.8 μS·cm−1 in the T1 to 73.7 μS·cm−1 in the T6. (2) The six frozen-thawed layers had more observed microbial species and distinct β diversity compared to the unfrozen CK, and the OTU-based co-occurrence network of the soil bacteria in the T1 was apparently better interconnected than that in the T6. However, the outer layers released significantly less CO2 on average than the CK and inner layers over the seven days of incubation. Although cautions must be taken in extrapolating our results to field scale processes, our study was the first (to our knowledge) to distinguish the heterogeneity of soil inter-layer microbial properties during progressive thawing. Our findings collectively suggest progressive thawing may introduce a non-negligible but long-neglected heterogeneity in carbon biogeochemistry along slopes.

Exploring the feasibility of using the soil temperature to identify preferential and lateral subsurface flows

AbstractSoil temperature can be influenced by rapidly infiltrating water. Deviations from a uniform soil heat distribution could result from vertical preferential flow (VPF) and lateral subsurface flow (LSF) events. The objective was to identify the effect of infiltration on the soil temperature time series in a lysimeter with forced vertical movement and that in a sloping field to distinguish between VPF and LSF. Wavelet coherence analysis (WCA) was used to analyze soil temperature time series measured in a Colluvic Regosol close to the surface (15‐cm depth) and below (80‐cm depth) in a horizon with possible LSF occurrence. The soil temperatures in these depths were correlated at a daily scale reflecting diurnal fluctuations of air temperatures. A correlation at a monthly scale was similar to the periodicity in the wavelet spectrum of the precipitation from May through October 2015. In this period, soil temperatures at 80‐cm depth changed faster in the lysimeter than in the field, indicating a dominating infiltration‐induced vertical heat movement in the lysimeter. When assuming a temperature‐dampening effect in the sloping field soil by laterally moving temperature‐equilibrated soil water, observed deviations in soil temperature profiles between lysimeter and field could be indicative for LSF in the field. However, LSF occurrence could only be verified by soil water content measurements for single rainfall events in October and May. The analysis was useful to identify qualitatively relevant events in a time series. For quantitative analysis, soil moisture data need to be considered.

Numerical Analysis Method That Considers Weathering and Water-Softening Effects for the Slope Stability of Carbonaceous Mudstone.

The mechanical behavior of carbonaceous mudstone deteriorates greatly when exposed to wet environments, and the precise evaluation of its slope stability has been a difficulty. This study aims to establish a numerical analysis method for the instability problems of its slopes; this method considers the effects of weathering and water-softening by establishing their mathematical expressions. The weathering and water-softening effects are reflected by variations in the mechanical properties (e.g., elastic modulus, angle of internal friction, and cohesion) of carbonaceous mudstone, with the depth following a logistic function and the shear strength parameters varying with wetting duration and degree of saturation. Their weathering and water-softening effects are reproduced with the use of the ABAQUS finite-element software and MATLAB programming. The proposed numerical method is applied to analyze the seepage field and stability of a highway cut slope with and without protection structures; the application results show that the proposed numerical method is reliable in analyzing the slope's instability problem. The use of the herringbone skeleton structures can reduce the water-softening effects and thus increase the safety factor of the slope. The findings of this study could provide guidance to the design and construction of highway cut slopes in mountain areas that are rich in carbonaceous mudstone.

Evaluation of soil erosion rates in the hilly-gully region of the Loess Plateau in China in the past 60 years using global fallout plutonium

Soil erosion strongly threatens the sustainability of natural ecosystems over the world, especially in the Loess Plateau in China, where has suffered severe soil erosion along with extensive land reclamation and deforestation from the 1950s to the 1970s. The large-scale vegetation restoration practices are supposed to be effective for reducing soil erosion, but the quantitative evaluation of soil erosion, particularly the response of land utilization types and vegetation coverage changes on the mitigation of soil degradation is still not well understood. Plutonium isotopes in soil cores collected from the forest, grassland slope, apple orchard, and cornfield in a typical watershed in the hilly-gully region of the Loess Plateau were analyzed to estimate the soil erosion rates in different land-use types. Widespread soil erosion at rates of 5.1–40.5 t/ha/yr. in this region in the past six decades was estimated. The influences of human activities in the past decades, type of land utilization, level of vegetation coverage, and terrain on the soil erosion in this region were discussed, and the accumulation of the eroded soil in the study sites was explored. Different types of land utilization showed diverse soil erosion rates (forest (slight) < grassland (light) < apple orchard ≈ cornfield (moderate)), indicating that natural vegetation rehabilitation, particularly restoring forest with high vegetation coverage is a practically effective conservation measure for soil erosion control; convex micro-topography on sloping fields is critical in alleviating soil loss by depositing eroded soil.

Modeling the effect of random roughness on synthetic aperture sonar image statistics.

A model has been developed to predict the effect of random seafloor roughness on synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) image statistics, based on the composite roughness approximation-a physical scattering model. The continuous variation in scattering strength produced by a random slope field is treated as an intensity scaling on the image speckle produced by the coherent SAS imaging process. Changes in image statistics caused by roughness are quantified in terms of the scintillation index (SI). Factors influencing the SI include the seafloor slope variance, geo-acoustic properties of the seafloor, the probability density function describing the speckle, and the signal-to-noise ratio. Example model-data comparisons are shown for SAS images taken at three different sites using three different high-frequency SAS systems. Agreement between the modeled and measured SI show that it is possible to link range-dependent image statistics to measurable geo-acoustic properties, providing the foundation necessary for solving problems related to the detection of targets using high-frequency imaging sonars, including performance prediction or adaptation of automated detection algorithms. Additionally, this work illustrates the possible use of SAS systems for remote sensing of roughness parameters such as root mean square slope or height.

Analytical Solution of Rainfall Infiltration in Unsaturated Soil Slopes Considering Initial Water Content Distribution

This paper proposes the analytical solution of rainfall infiltration in unsaturated soil slopes considering the initial distribution of water content under various rainfall intensities. A computational model of the seepage field was established for the unsaturated soil slope, and the governing equation of seepage field of the unsaturated soil slope was derived from the established model. Subsequently, the analytical solution for the distribution of the real-time water content in the seepage field was obtained, considering various rainfall intensities. The analytical results are then compared with those by other methods (i.e., experimental test and numerical analysis). The comparative results show that the analytical solution is close to the that obtained by other methods. Besides, the time of water accumulation and the distribution function of water content at any moment can be accurately obtained using the analytical model. The analytical model proposed in this paper can indicate accurate results of the seepage field in unsaturated soil slopes, considering the initial water content distribution of soil.

Physical Model Test on the Deformation Mechanism of Reservoir Bank Slopes With Sand Layers Under Coupled Hydro-Mechanical Conditions

A reservoir area is mostly located in the canyon area, and the geological structure is complex. There are a large number of unstable slopes on the bank of the reservoir. The stability of bank slope is greatly affected by water storage and reservoir water regulation. In addition, sudden rainstorm and other external factors can reduce slope stability. In this article, the physical model test is used to study the seepage field and deformation characteristics of typical reservoir bank slopes with sand layers under different rainfall intensities, different water level fluctuation rates, and their coupling effects. The model has a length of 4.0 m, a width of 1.0 m, and a height of 0.9 m, and the piezometers and white balls are used to monitor the pore water pressures and displacements inside the slope model individually. The results show that the responsiveness of pore water pressure inside the slope lags behind both water level fluctuation and rainfall. The lag time is inversely proportional to the water level fluctuation rates under the single water level fluctuation condition, while it is proportional to water level fluctuation rates in the water level decline stage under the coupling effect condition. The rapid impoundment of the reservoir area has a strengthening effect on the stability of the reservoir bank slope. However, accelerated deformation of the slope occurs in the stage of water level decline, and the deformation rate is proportional to the water level fluctuation rates.

Land use affects the response of soil moisture and soil temperature to environmental factors in the loess hilly region of China.

Changes in soil moisture and soil temperature result from the combined effects of several environmental factors. Scientific determination of the response characteristics of soil moisture and soil temperature to environmental factors is critical for adjusting the sloping land use structure and improving the ecological environment in China’s loess hilly region. Soybean sloping fields, maize terraced fields, jujube orchards, and grasslands in the loess hilly region were selected as the research areas. The change in characteristics of soil moisture and soil temperature, as well as their interactions and statistical relationships with meteorological factors, were analyzed using continuously measured soil moisture, soil temperature, and meteorological factors. The results revealed that air temperature and humidity were the main controlling factors affecting soil moisture changes in the 0–60 cm soil layer of soybean sloping fields and grasslands in the normal precipitation year (2014) and the dry year (2015). Humidity and wind speed were the main meteorological factors affecting soil moisture changes in the maize terraced field. Air temperature had a significant negative effect on soil moisture in the jujube orchard. Soil moisture and soil temperature were all negatively correlated under the four sloping land use types. In normal precipitation years, atmospheric humidity had the greatest direct and comprehensive effect on soil moisture in soybean sloping fields, maize terraced fields, and grasslands; soil temperature had a relatively large impact on soil moisture in jujube orchards. The direct and comprehensive effects of soil temperature on soil moisture under all sloping land use types were the largest and most negative in the dry year. Air temperature had a high correlation with soil temperature in the 0–60 cm soil layer under the four sloping land use types, and the grey relational grade decreased as the soil layer deepened. The coefficient of determination between the 0–20 cm soil temperature and air temperature in the maize terraced field was low, indicating a weak response to air temperature. The above findings can serve as a scientific foundation for optimizing sloping land use structures and maximizing the efficient and sustainable utilization of sloping land resources in China’s loess hilly region.

Wave Attenuation by Vegetation: Model Implementation and Validation Study

Wave–vegetation interaction is implemented in the WAVEWATCH III (WW3) model. The vegetation sink term followed the early formulations of Dalrymple et al. (Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering, 1984, 110, 67–79), which focused on monochromatic waves and vegetation approximated as an array of rigid, vertical cylinders, and was later expanded by Mendez and Losada (Coastal Engineering, 2004, 51, 103–118) for random wave transformations over mildly sloping vegetation fields under breaking and nonbreaking conditions assuming a Rayleigh distribution of wave heights. First, validation is carried out for 63 laboratory cases (Anderson and Smith, 2014) with homogeneous vegetation fields for single and double-peak wave spectra. Then, a field case application is conducted to assess the wave attenuation in a wetland environment with spatially variable vegetation fields during stormy conditions. The case study uses data collected at the Magothy Bay located in the Chesapeake Bay, United States, during Hurricanes Jose and Maria in 2017. The domain decomposition parallelization and the implicit scheme have been used for the simulations to efficiently resolve complex shorelines and high-gradient wave zones, incorporating dominant physics in the complicated coastal zone, including wave breaking, wave–current interaction, bottom friction and scattering, wave–vegetation interaction, and nonlinearity (Abdolali et al., 2020). The lab validation and field application demonstrate that WW3 is an effective tool for evaluating the capacity of wetland natural or nature-based features to attenuate wave energy to achieve coastal flood risk reduction.

Soil Bunds Effect on Soil Properties under Different Topographies of Southwest Ethiopia

Soil erosion is a major environmental problem affecting development endeavors. Physical soil and water conservation (SWC) measures such as soil bunds are implemented to mitigate soil erosion. However, information on the effects of soil bunds on soil fertility is limited. This study aimed to evaluate soil quality in fields with soil bunds and with no soil bunds in steep, middle and lower sloping cultivated lands as well as spatial variation of soil properties in between bunds in southwest Ethiopia. About 7-15 years old bunds and nearby cultivated fields lacking bunds were assessed. From 0 cm-20 cm soil depth, 36 soil samples were collected. Soil texture, soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (Ntot) and exchangeable potassium (Kexch) were analyzed. Soil bunds showed significantly (p&lt;0.0.5) greater clay but less sand than adjacent no-bund fields. In steep, middle, and lower slopes, concentrations of SOC and Kexch were greater in fields with soil bunds than without. Lower slope fields showed greater clay, SOC and nutrients than steep slopes. In between soil bunds, soil was more fertile at bunds than below the bunds. In Fanta watershed, soil bunds are a vital conservation measure to retain soil fertility in cultivated mountainous areas.