Abstract: In this study, the flood infiltration process and the variation of soil moisture content at different depths in seasonal watercourse in the southeast Kumtag Desert, an arid region, were monitored and analyzed by using the deep soil infiltration water recorder and the water automatic monitoring system, and the soil physical properties at the monitoring sites were determined. The results showed that:   ① Sand was dominant in soil, and the maximum water-holding capacity of the soil varied from 26.08% to 31.75%;  ② During the monitoring period, water could infiltrate into the 200-cm-deep soil layer during flood process, but the water infiltration in the 50-cm-deep soil layer was basically unsaturated. There was a good linear correlation between the depth of wetting front in soil layer and the infiltration time, but the seasonal difference of this correlation was obvious, especially the water infiltration was slower in spring;   ③ There were 4 obviously continuous infiltration processes in the 160-cm-deep soil layer during the monitoring period. The total infiltration volume was 2 165.8 mm, and the maximum infiltration rate was 21.4 mm·(2h)^-1. The soil moisture infiltration rate in 160-cm-deep soil layer was in an exponential increase trend with the increase of soil moisture content, but the initial soil moisture content of each successive infiltration was different.

Key words:  seasonal flood ditch')">

 seasonal flood ditch, water infiltration, soil moisture content; Cuimutugou, Kumtag Desert