At three artificial rainfall intensities of 60

90 and 105 mm/h

soil erosion on a slope of 20° was investigated using a three-dimensional laser scanner before and after rainfall. Results show that the amounts of runoff and erosion increased with the increasement of rainfall intensity

while the influence of increasing rainfall intensity on soil erosion is much larger than that on runoff. The calculated errors for the data of the three rainfall intensities using the three-dimensional laser scanner before and after rainfall were 0.872%

9.349% and 4.495%

respectively

being less than 10%. At the same time

the eroded position and fragmentation could be observed intuitively. Using the three-dimensional laser scanner is able to calculate the volume and amount of soil erosion in a quick and accurate way

and observe the spatial distribution of soil erosion visually.