## 3 Results
### Differences Between Coal and Non-Coal Mining Areas
Across nearly all environmental factors, coal mining areas exhibit more extensive and intense red regions, indicating stronger correlations between rainfall and SWC at various time scales. This is particularly evident in the subplots for CGI (e, f), GCVR (g, h), and SOM (k, l), where coal mining areas show larger regions of significant correlation. In contrast, non-coal mining areas generally display weaker correlations, with fewer or smaller red patches. For instance, the plots for aspect (c, d) and SAN (m, n) show less intense correlations in non-coal mining areas, suggesting that these factors have a less pronounced effect on SWC in non-mining regions. At a depth of 30 cm, the coal mining area demonstrates significant coherence between SWC and altitude, with a strong positive correlation at time scales of less than 1 year (30.02%), which diminishes over time. Conversely, in the non-coal mining area, there is a positive correlation at less than 1 year (28.78%) but a reversal to a negative correlation at time scales greater than 4 years (18.44%). For GCVR, coal mining areas exhibit a predominantly negative trend around the 1-year scale, while the non-coal mining area shows a predominantly positive trend, especially at time scales greater than 4 years (55.31%). A notable difference is also observed in the aspect factor, which shows a negative correlation in coal mining areas and a positive correlation in non-coal mining areas, highlighting the contrasting influence of topographic orientation on SWC in these environments. These differences suggest that topographic features, such as aspect, may play a more consistent role in influencing SWC in non-coal mining areas. At a depth of 50 cm, more pronounced differences between coal mining and non-coal mining areas are observed, particularly with respect to altitude (a, b) and slope (c, d) (Figure 5). The PASC between SWC and altitude at this depth reveals opposing trends: in coal mining areas, there is a \"1-year positive and >4-year negative\" trend, while, in  
Figure 4: Wavelet coherency between rainfall and correlation coefficients of SWC at 30 cm with (**a**) altitude, (**c**) aspect, (**e**) CGI, (**g**) GCVR, (**i**) silt, (**k**) SOM, (**m**) SAN, and (**o**) SAK in the coal mining area and (**b**) altitude, (**d**) aspect, (**f**) CGI, (**h**) GCVR, (**j**) silt, (**l**) SOM, (**n**) SAN, and (**p**) SAK in the non-coal mining area. The X axis indicates the number of days since the measurement started and the Y axis indicates temporal scale (months); the color legend indicates the strength of correlation, the black solid line indicates 95% significant level, and the direction of the arrow indicates the type of correlation. non-coal mining areas, a strong negative correlation dominates at time scales greater than 4 years (73.45%). This contrast suggests that mining activities may be altering the long-term influence of altitude on soil moisture retention. The correlation with slope also differs notably between the regions. In coal mining areas, it is predominantly negative, especially at time scales greater than 4 years (76.60%), whereas, in non-coal mining areas, the correlation remains mostly positive. Other factors, such as CGI and pH, display similarly contrasting patterns, with coal mining areas showing more pronounced shifts between positive and negative correlations across different temporal scales. This suggests a greater variability in the response to environmental factors due to mining disturbances. Overall, coal mining activities introduce more variability and often more intense effects on the relationship between SWC and topographic or edaphic factors compared to non-coal mining areas. This variability is evident in the temporal shifts from positive to negative correlations, particularly in coal mining areas, which may result from mining-induced changes in soil structure, composition, and water retention properties.