Abstract：The main objectives of this work were to investigate and quantify water storage from micro-topographical preparation and how it could be adapted to the infiltration of harvested water for use in the Yunnan red soil hilly region semi-arid environments. The experiments were conducted under the full-scale rainfall simulator(240 min,55 mm/h)for four surface slopes(7.5°, 9.0°, 12.0° and 15.0°)runoff/erosion catchment plots. The data obtained from each treatment included: runoff time lag, surface runoff and sediment yield. The results showed that on all slop surfaces, through micro-topographical preparation, runoff time lag can be increased by 51.18%; surface runoff can be reduced by 43.04%; sediment yield can be reduced by 25.14%, as compared to a control treatment with no depression. This research can provide a novel method and data basis for the prevention and control of water erosion in red soil hilly regions.
