Abstract: In order to resolve the problem of drought in gneiss mountainous area in Taihang Mountains,an analysis about the relationship between soil moisture content and slope aspect,slope position,gradient,soil layer thickness,soil bulk density,soil density,vegetation coverage,field capacity,capillary porosity,soil texture was made in Fuping,which is a typical droughty place in gneiss mountainous area in Taihang mountains.The results showed that the soil moisture content is extremely low,which was about 3.18%~8.61%.The correlation coefficients between soil moisture content and each affecting factor were 0.745,0.612,-0.078,0.992,-0.924,-0.693,0.974,0.834,0.798,0.918.The correlation between soil moisture content and gradient was not significant,while the correlation between soil moisture content and the other 8 factors was highly significant.Principal component analysis screened out 5 factorsslope aspect,slope position,soil thickness,vegetation coverage and soil bulk density.The direct path coefficient was in the order of thickness (0.609)> vegetation coverage (0.224)> soil bulk density (-0.185).In combination with the condition of indirect path coefficient,such a conclusion was reached that soil layer thickness and vegetation coverage both had positive effects on soil moisture content,while soil bulk density had negative effect on it.

Key words: Taihang Mountains, soil moisture content, correlation analysis, principal component analysis, path analysis