Influence of Scale on SWAT Model Calibration for Streamflow in a River Basin in the Humid Tropics

2010 ◽  
Vol 24 (15) ◽  
pp. 4567-4578 ◽  
Author(s):  
Santosh G. Thampi ◽  
Kolladi Y. Raneesh ◽  
T. V. Surya
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Model Calibration ◽  
Swat Model ◽  
Humid Tropics

scholarly journals Multi-site calibration and validation of SWAT with satellite-based evapotranspiration in a data-sparse catchment in southwestern Nigeria

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 1113-1144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abolanle E. Odusanya ◽  
Bano Mehdi ◽  
Christoph Schürz ◽  
Adebayo O. Oke ◽  
Olufiropo S. Awokola ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Model Calibration ◽  
Hydrological Model ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Potential Evapotranspiration ◽  
Swat Model ◽  
Water Balance Components ◽  
Southwestern Nigeria ◽  
Calibration And Validation

Abstract. The main objective of this study was to calibrate and validate the eco-hydrological model Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) with satellite-based actual evapotranspiration (AET) data from the Global Land Evaporation Amsterdam Model (GLEAM_v3.0a) and from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer Global Evaporation (MOD16) for the Ogun River Basin (20 292 km2) located in southwestern Nigeria. Three potential evapotranspiration (PET) equations (Hargreaves, Priestley–Taylor and Penman–Monteith) were used for the SWAT simulation of AET. The reference simulations were the three AET variables simulated with SWAT before model calibration took place. The sequential uncertainty fitting technique (SUFI-2) was used for the SWAT model sensitivity analysis, calibration, validation and uncertainty analysis. The GLEAM_v3.0a and MOD16 products were subsequently used to calibrate the three SWAT-simulated AET variables, thereby obtaining six calibrations–validations at a monthly timescale. The model performance for the three SWAT model runs was evaluated for each of the 53 subbasins against the GLEAM_v3.0a and MOD16 products, which enabled the best model run with the highest-performing satellite-based AET product to be chosen. A verification of the simulated AET variable was carried out by (i) comparing the simulated AET of the calibrated model to GLEAM_v3.0b AET, which is a product that has different forcing data than the version of GLEAM used for the calibration, and (ii) assessing the long-term average annual and average monthly water balances at the outlet of the watershed. Overall, the SWAT model, composed of the Hargreaves PET equation and calibrated using the GLEAM_v3.0a data (GS1), performed well for the simulation of AET and provided a good level of confidence for using the SWAT model as a decision support tool. The 95 % uncertainty of the SWAT-simulated variable bracketed most of the satellite-based AET data in each subbasin. A validation of the simulated soil moisture dynamics for GS1 was carried out using satellite-retrieved soil moisture data, which revealed good agreement. The SWAT model (GS1) also captured the seasonal variability of the water balance components at the outlet of the watershed. This study demonstrated the potential to use remotely sensed evapotranspiration data for hydrological model calibration and validation in a sparsely gauged large river basin with reasonable accuracy. The novelty of the study is the use of these freely available satellite-derived AET datasets to effectively calibrate and validate an eco-hydrological model for a data-scarce catchment.

scholarly journals Some Challenges in Hydrologic Model Calibration for Large-Scale Studies: A Case Study of SWAT Model Application to Mississippi-Atchafalaya River Basin

Hydrology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Narayanan Kannan ◽  
Chinnasamy Santhi ◽  
Michael J. White ◽  
Sushant Mehan ◽  
Jeffrey G. Arnold ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Model Calibration ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Swat Model ◽  
The United States ◽  
Hydrologic Model ◽  
Calibration Target ◽  
Atchafalaya River ◽  
Atchafalaya River Basin

This study is a part of the Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) aimed to quantify the environmental and economic benefits of conservation practices implemented in the cultivated cropland throughout the United States. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model under the Hydrologic United Modeling of the United States (HUMUS) framework was used in the study. An automated flow calibration procedure was developed and used to calibrate runoff for each 8-digit watershed (within 20% of calibration target) and the partitioning of runoff into surface and sub-surface flow components (within 10% of calibration target). Streamflow was validated at selected gauging stations along major rivers within the river basin with a target R2 of >0.6 and Nash and Sutcliffe Efficiency of >0.5. The study area covered the entire Mississippi and Atchafalaya River Basin (MARB). Based on the results obtained, our analysis pointed out multiple challenges to calibration such as: (1) availability of good quality data, (2) accounting for multiple reservoirs within a sub-watershed, (3) inadequate accounting of elevation and slopes in mountainous regions, (4) poor representation of carrying capacity of channels, (5) inadequate capturing of the irrigation return flows, (6) inadequate representation of vegetative cover, and (7) poor representation of water abstractions (both surface and groundwater). Additional outstanding challenges to large-scale hydrologic model calibration were the coarse spatial scale of soils, land cover, and topography.

scholarly journals SWAT Model Calibration and Uncertainty Analysis for Streamflow Prediction in the Kunwari River Basin, India, Using Sequential Uncertainty Fitting

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boini Narsimlu ◽  
Ashvin K. Gosain ◽  
Baghu R. Chahar ◽  
Sudhir Kumar Singh ◽  
Prashant K. Srivastava
Keyword(s):  
Uncertainty Analysis ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Model Calibration ◽  
Swat Model ◽  
Streamflow Prediction

scholarly journals Assessment of impacts of change in land use and climatic variables on runoff in Tajan River Basin

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (7) ◽  
pp. 2779-2793
Author(s):  
Sajad Sadeghi ◽  
Bahram Saghafian ◽  
Mohsen Najarchi
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Model Calibration ◽  
Swat Model ◽  
Climatic Variables ◽  
Climate Variables ◽  
Landuse Change ◽  
The Past ◽  
Maximum Change ◽  
Tajan River

Abstract The main objective of the present study was to investigate runoff response to climate variables as well as landuse change over the past 30 years in Tajan River Basin, using the SWAT model. After the model calibration, four different scenarios were simulated and compared. Comparison of simulated runoff results determined from different scenarios indicated that climatic variables reduced the amount of runoff while the landuse change increased this amount in most months of the year. Simulated runoff under three landuse scenarios in all months demonstrated that the runoff achieved from scenario 1 was smaller than scenarios 2 and 4. In scenario 4, the runoff amount increased by 3–21% and 0.8–13% in Kordkheil station compared to those of scenario 1 and scenario 2, respectively. Furthermore, the increase in runoff for scenario 4 is 3–19% and 2–12% in Rig Cheshmeh station relative to those of scenario 1 and scenario 2, respectively. Nonetheless, the maximum change in runoff was only 6% under climatic variables. Hence, landuse had more significant impacts on the runoff compared to climatic variables.

scholarly journals Multi-site calibration and validation of SWAT with satellite-based evapotranspiration in a data sparse catchment in southwestern Nigeria

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abolanle E. Odusanya ◽  
Bano Mehdi ◽  
Christoph Schürz ◽  
Adebayo O. Oke ◽  
Olufiropo S. Awokola ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Model Calibration ◽  
Hydrological Model ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Potential Evapotranspiration ◽  
Swat Model ◽  
Model Structure ◽  
Analysis Model ◽  
Southwestern Nigeria ◽  
Calibration And Validation

Abstract. The main objective of this study was to calibrate and validate the eco-hydrological model Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) with satellite based actual evapotranspiration (AET) data (Global Land Evaporation Amsterdam Model (GLEAM_v3.0a) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer Global Evaporation (MOD16) for the Ogun River Basin (20 292 km2) located in southwestern Nigeria. The novelty of the study is the use of freely available satellite derived AET data for calibration/validation of each of the SWAT delineated subbasins, thereby obtaining a better performing model at the local scale as well as at the whole watershed level. The Sequential Uncertainty Fitting technique (SUFI-2) in the SWAT-Calibration and Uncertainty Program was used for the sensitivity analysis, model calibration, validation, and uncertainty analysis. Three different structures of the SWAT model were used in which each model structure was a set-up of SWAT with a different potential evapotranspiration (PET) equation. The two global AET products (GLEAM_v3.0a and MOD16) were subsequently used to calibrate the SWAT simulated AET outputs from each model structure resulting in six calibration/validation procedures at a monthly time scale. The model performance for the three SWAT model structures was evaluated for each of the 53 subbasins through the six calibrations/validations, which enabled the best model structure with the highest performing AET product to be chosen. A verification of the simulated AET variable was carried out by: (i) comparing the simulated AET of the calibrated model to GLEAM_v3.0b AET, this is a product that has a different forcing data to version of GLEAM used for the calibration, and (ii) assessing the long-term average annual and average monthly water balances at the outlet of the watershed. Overall, the SWAT model structure composed of Hargreaves PET equation and calibrated using the GLEAM_v3.0a data performed well for the simulation of AET and provided a good level of confidence for using the SWAT model as a decision support tool. The 95% uncertainty of the SWAT simulated variable bracketed most of the satellite based AET data in each subbasin. The SWAT model also proved efficient in capturing the seasonal variability of the water balance components at the outlet of the watershed. This study demonstrated the potential to use remotely sensed evapotranspiration data for hydrological model calibration and validation in a sparsely gauged large river basin with reasonable accuracy.

scholarly journals Application of SWAT in Hydrological Simulation of Complex Mountainous River Basin (Part II: Climate Change Impact Assessment)

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 1548
Author(s):  
Suresh Marahatta ◽  
Deepak Aryal ◽  
Laxmi Prasad Devkota ◽  
Utsav Bhattarai ◽  
Dibesh Shrestha
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Swat Model ◽  
Global Climate Models ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Mountainous River

This study aims at analysing the impact of climate change (CC) on the river hydrology of a complex mountainous river basin—the Budhigandaki River Basin (BRB)—using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) hydrological model that was calibrated and validated in Part I of this research. A relatively new approach of selecting global climate models (GCMs) for each of the two selected RCPs, 4.5 (stabilization scenario) and 8.5 (high emission scenario), representing four extreme cases (warm-wet, cold-wet, warm-dry, and cold-dry conditions), was applied. Future climate data was bias corrected using a quantile mapping method. The bias-corrected GCM data were forced into the SWAT model one at a time to simulate the future flows of BRB for three 30-year time windows: Immediate Future (2021–2050), Mid Future (2046–2075), and Far Future (2070–2099). The projected flows were compared with the corresponding monthly, seasonal, annual, and fractional differences of extreme flows of the simulated baseline period (1983–2012). The results showed that future long-term average annual flows are expected to increase in all climatic conditions for both RCPs compared to the baseline. The range of predicted changes in future monthly, seasonal, and annual flows shows high uncertainty. The comparative frequency analysis of the annual one-day-maximum and -minimum flows shows increased high flows and decreased low flows in the future. These results imply the necessity for design modifications in hydraulic structures as well as the preference of storage over run-of-river water resources development projects in the study basin from the perspective of climate resilience.

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