Background The density of artificial snow is much higher than that of natural one, the vegetation coverage of ski slope is low, and the feature of frozen-thawed soil has changed. After warming up in spring, the rapid melting of artificial snow will generate a large amount of melting water, and this will cause great soil erosion. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the runoff and sediment yield from artificial snow melting in ski slope. In order to study the characteristics of runoff and sediment yield from artificial snow melting on ski slope, this paper observed and studied the simple runoff plots in a field, which provides theoretical basis for ski slope construction and soil erosion control.

Methods In this study, two runoff plots with the size of 2.5 m×10 m were set up on the intermediate ski slope of Beijing Shijinglong ski slope. Through the runoff plot observation method, the runoff flow and sediment concentration were measured and calculated in April 10 and 11, 2018, and sampled every hour.

Results 1) Air temperature and soil temperature showed the change pattern of "Peak" type with time. The peak of temperature appeared at 14:00 and the peak of soil temperature appeared at 15:00. 2) There was a cubic function relationship between snow volume reduction and air temperature, but the fitting effect between snow volume reduction and soil temperature was not ideal. 3) The runoff flow and sediment concentration of snowmelt on the ski slope increased first and then decreased. Among them, the average runoff flow was 11.52×10^-6 m³/s, the average sediment concentration was 0.30 kg/m³, and the average soil erosion modulus was 4 360 t/(km²·a), which belonged to moderate erosion. In addition, runoff flow and sediment concentration were also affected by soil, mulch and slope gradient, and the relationship between runoff flow and sediment concentration was linear.

Conclusions Through experimental observation and analysis, it provides theoretical basis for ski slope construction and soil erosion control. More attention should be paid to surface soil improvement and vegetation construction of ski slope. The runoff and soil erosion caused from artificial snow melting can be reduced by improving the soil permeability and erodibility of ski slope. The construction of vegetation may increase the surface roughness and improve the physical and chemical properties of soil, thus it can play a role in preventing and controlling soil erosion.