Abstract:The Loess Plateau is the most heavily eroded area in China. It is thus significant to conduct reasonable micro-landform re-establishment measures that can prevent and control soil and water loss. In this study, the WEPP model was used to simulate the rainfall-erosion process at a hillslope scale. The major purpose was to analyze the characteristics of soil erosion on different slopes and the effect of water loss reduction on two and three stages of level terraces (field widths of 1 m, 1.5 m, and 2 m). The following results were captured. First, runoff and sediment yield increased with increasing gradients and precipitation intensities, whereas runoff remained stable and sediment yield increased slowly with increasing gradients before reaching a critical slope gradient (20°). Second, when the field widths increased, the regulation rates of runoff increased from 6.5% to 61.2% and from 10.1% to 69.7%, under medium (1.0 mm/min) and strong (1.5 mm/min) rainfall intensity, respectively. Level terraces with two stages and field width greater than 1.5 m captured less sediment than the slopes. The regulation rates of sediment yield of the two- and three-stage level terraces increased from 1.1% to 68.8% and from 1.4% to 82.3%, respectively. Third, in order to maximize the efficiency of sediment reduction, the table width of level benches should be appropriately designed. When suffering from small (0.5 mm/min), medium (1.0 mm/min), and strong (1.5 mm/min) rainfall, three-stage level terraces with field widths of 1.0 m (1.5 m two-stage level terrace), 1.5 m, and 2.0 m can play prominent roles in water erosion control. By using the WEPP model, the results of this study can provide technical support for quantifying the efficiencies of engineering measures on soil conservation.