Multi-Disciplinary Assessment of Napier Grass Plantation on Local Energetic, Environmental and Socioeconomic Industries: A Watershed-Scale Study in Southern Thailand

Napier grass is an energy crop that is promising for future power generation. Since Napier grass has never been planted extensively, it is important to understand the impacts of Napier grass plantations on local energetic, environmental, and socioeconomic features. In this study, the soil and water assessment tool (SWAT) model was employed to investigate the impacts of Napier grass plantation on runoff, sediment, and nitrate loads in Songkhla Lake Basin (SLB), southern Thailand. Historical data, collected between 2009 and 2018 from the U-tapao gaging station located in SLB were used to calibrate and validate the model in terms of precipitation, streamflow, and sediment. The simulated precipitation, streamflow, and sediment showed agreement with observed data, with the coefficients of determination being 0.791, 0.900, and 0.997, respectively. Subsequently, the SWAT model was applied to evaluate the impact of land use change from the baseline case to Napier grass plantation cases in abandoned areas with four different nitrogen fertilizer application levels. The results revealed that planting Napier grass decreased the average surface runoff and sediment in the watershed. A multidisciplinary assessment supporting future decision making was conducted using the results obtained from the SWAT model; these showed that Napier grass will provide enhanced benefits to hydrology and water quality when nitrogen fertilizers of 0 and 125 kgN ha−1 were applied. On the other hand, the benefits to the energy supply, farmer’s income, and CO2 reduction were highest when a nitrogen fertilization of 500 kgN ha−1 was applied. Nonetheless, planting Napier grass should be supported since it increases the energy supply and creates jobs while also reducing surface runoff, sediment yield, nitrate load, and CO2 emission.

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Future Climate Change Impact on the Nyabugogo Catchment Water Balance in Rwanda

Water ◽

10.3390/w13243636 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (24) ◽

pp. 3636

Author(s):

Adeline Umugwaneza ◽

Xi Chen ◽

Tie Liu ◽

Zhengyang Li ◽

Solange Uwamahoro ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Water Resources ◽

Water Balance ◽

Surface Runoff ◽

Hydrological Cycle ◽

Swat Model ◽

Global Climate Models ◽

Future Climate Change ◽

Baseline Scenario ◽

The Impact

Droughts and floods are common in tropical regions, including Rwanda, and are likely to be aggravated by climate change. Consequently, assessing the effects of climate change on hydrological systems has become critical. The goal of this study is to analyze the impact of climate change on the water balance in the Nyabugogo catchment by downscaling 10 global climate models (GCMs) from CMIP6 using the inverse distance weighting (IDW) method. To apply climate change signals under the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) (low and high emission) scenarios, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model was used. For the baseline scenario, the period 1950–2014 was employed, whereas the periods 2020–2050 and 2050–2100 were used for future scenario analysis. The streamflow was projected to decrease by 7.2 and 3.49% under SSP126 in the 2020–2050 and 2050–2100 periods, respectively; under SSP585, it showed a 3.26% increase in 2020–2050 and a 4.53% decrease in 2050–2100. The average annual surface runoff was projected to decrease by 11.66 (4.40)% under SSP126 in the 2020–2050 (2050–2100) period, while an increase of 3.25% in 2020–2050 and a decline of 5.42% in 2050–2100 were expected under SSP585. Climate change is expected to have an impact on the components of the hydrological cycle (such as streamflow and surface runoff). This situation may, therefore, lead to an increase in water stress, calling for the integrated management of available water resources in order to match the increasing water demand in the study area. This study’s findings could be useful for the establishment of adaptation plans to climate change, managing water resources, and water engineering.

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Land use and water quality in watersheds in the State of São Paulo, based on GIS and SWAT data

Ambiente e Agua - An Interdisciplinary Journal of Applied Science ◽

10.4136/ambi-agua.2325 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 14 (5) ◽

pp. 1

Author(s):

Denise Piccirillo Barbosa da Veiga ◽

Manuel Enrique Gamero Guandique ◽

Adelaide Cassia Nardocci

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Water Resources ◽

Surface Runoff ◽

Integrated Management ◽

Swat Model ◽

Land Use Classification ◽

Hydrological Simulation ◽

Hydrological Balance ◽

Gis Tools ◽

The Impact

Land use influences the quality and availability of water resources, but Brazil has made little progress in integrated watershed management. This study therefore applied geoprocessing for land-use classification and evaluated the impact on the hydrological balance in order to contribute to the integrated management of water resources. Using GIS tools, two drainage areas from the water catchment points of two municipalities, Santa Cruz das Palmeiras and Piedade, were delimited; land-use mapping was carried out using the supervised classification method of satellite images, and the SWAT model was applied for hydrological simulation. The methods used were appropriate. The surface runoff was related to the absence of vegetation and the predominance of exposed soil. The relationship between land use/land cover and the hydrological balance was evidenced, especially the impact of agricultural activities and the lack of natural vegetation in the surface runoff.

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Land Potential Assessment of Napier Grass Plantation for Power Generation in Thailand Using SWAT Model. Model Validation and Parameter Calibration

Energies ◽

10.3390/en14051326 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (5) ◽

pp. 1326

Author(s):

Kotchakarn Nantasaksiri ◽

Patcharawat Charoen-Amornkitt ◽

Takashi Machimura

Keyword(s):

Power Generation ◽

Model Validation ◽

Growth Parameters ◽

Swat Model ◽

Energy Resource ◽

Crop Growth ◽

Napier Grass ◽

Sensitivity Index ◽

Parameter Calibration ◽

The Impact

In Thailand, Napier grass is expected to play an important role as an energy resource for future power generation. To accomplish this goal, numerous areas are required for Napier grass plantations. Before introducing crops, the land potential of the country and the impact of crops on the environment should be assessed. The soil and water assessment tool (SWAT) model is very useful in investigating crop impacts and land potential. Unfortunately, the crop growth parameters of Napier grass are yet to be identified and, thus, conducting effective analysis has not been possible. Accordingly, in this study, parameter calibration and SWAT model validation of Napier grass production in Thailand was carried out using datasets from eight sites with 93 samples. Parameter sensitivity analysis was performed prior to parameter calibration, the results of which suggest that the radiation use efficiency and potential harvested index are both highly sensitive. The crop growth parameters were calibrated in order of their sensitivity index ranking, and the final values were obtained by reducing the root mean square error from 10.77 to 1.38 t·ha−1. The validation provides satisfactory results with coefficient of determination of 0.951 and a mean error of 0.321 t·ha−1. Using the developed model and calibrated parameters, local Napier grass dry matter yield can be evaluated accurately. The results reveal that, if only abandoned area in Thailand is used, then Napier grass can provide roughly 33,600–44,900 GWh of annual electricity, and power plant carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions can be reduced by approximately 21.2–28.3 Mt-CO2. The spatial distribution of estimated yield obtained in this work can be further utilized for land suitability analysis to help identify locations for Napier grass plantations, anaerobic digesters, and biogas power plants.

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Stream flow simulation and verification in ungauged zones by coupling hydrological and hydrodynamic models: a case study of the Poyang Lake ungauged zone

10.5194/hess-2017-64 ◽

2017 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ling Zhang ◽

Jianzhong Lu ◽

Xiaoling Chen ◽

Sabine Sauvage ◽

José-Miguel Sanchez Perez

Keyword(s):

Water Balance ◽

Stream Flow ◽

Poyang Lake ◽

Swat Model ◽

Flow Simulation ◽

Lake Basin ◽

Observation Data ◽

Stream Flows ◽

Covered Area ◽

The Impact

Abstract. To solve the problem of estimating and verifying stream flows without direct observation data; we extend existing techniques for estimating stream flows in ungauged zones, coupling a hydrological model with a hydrodynamic model, using the Poyang Lake basin as a test case. We simulated stream flows in the land covered area of the ungauged zone by building a SWAT model for the entire catchment area covering gauged stations and the land covered area; then estimated stream flows in the water covered area of the ungauged zone using the simplified water balance equation. To verify the results, we built two scenarios (original and adjusted scenarios) using the Delft3D model. In this study, the original scenario did not take stream flows in the ungauged zone into consideration, unlike the adjusted scenario that accounts for the ungauged zones. Experimental results show there was a narrower discrepancy between the stream flows observed at the outlet of the lake and the simulated stream flows in adjusted scenario. Using our technique, we estimated that the ungauged zone of Poyang Lake produces stream flows of approximately 180 billion m3; representing about 11.4 % of the total inflow from the entire watershed. We also analysed the impact of the stream flows in ungauged zone on the water balance between inflow and outflow of the lake. These results, incorporating the estimated stream flow in ungauged zone, significantly improved the water balance as indicated by R2 with higher value and percent bias with lower value, as compared to the results when the stream flows in the ungauged zone were not taken into account, R2 with lower value and percent bias with higher value. The method can be extended to other lake, river, or ocean basins where observation data is unavailable.

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Multi-Step Calibration Approach for SWAT Model Using Soil Moisture and Crop Yields in a Small Agricultural Catchment

Water ◽

10.3390/w13162238 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (16) ◽

pp. 2238

Author(s):

Francis Kilundu Musyoka ◽

Peter Strauss ◽

Guangju Zhao ◽

Raghavan Srinivasan ◽

Andreas Klik

Keyword(s):

Soil Moisture ◽

Groundwater Flow ◽

Surface Runoff ◽

Crop Yields ◽

Swat Model ◽

Agricultural Watershed ◽

Quantitative Prediction ◽

Sediment Yields ◽

The Impact ◽

Calibration Approach

The quantitative prediction of hydrological components through hydrological models could serve as a basis for developing better land and water management policies. This study provides a comprehensive step by step modelling approach for a small agricultural watershed using the SWAT model. The watershed is situated in Petzenkirchen in the western part of Lower Austria and has total area of 66 hectares. At present, 87% of the catchment area is arable land, 5% is used as pasture, 6% is forested and 2% is paved. The calibration approach involves a sequential calibration of the model starting from surface runoff, and groundwater flow, followed by crop yields and then soil moisture, and finally total streamflow and sediment yields. Calibration and validation are carried out using the r-package SWATplusR. The impact of each calibration step on sediment yields and total streamflow is evaluated. The results of this approach are compared with those of the conventional model calibration approach, where all the parameters governing various hydrological processes are calibrated simultaneously. Results showed that the model was capable of successfully predicting surface runoff, groundwater flow, soil profile water content, total streamflow and sediment yields with Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) of greater than 0.75. Crop yields were also well simulated with a percent bias (PBIAS) ranging from −17% to 14%. Surface runoff calibration had the highest impact on streamflow output, improving NSE from 0.39 to 0.77. The step-wise calibration approach performed better for streamflow prediction than the simultaneous calibration approach. The results of this study show that the step-wise calibration approach is more accurate, and provides a better representation of different hydrological components and processes than the simultaneous calibration approach.

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Impacts of Land Cover/Use Changes on Hydrological Processes in a Rapidly Urbanizing Mid-latitude Water Supply Catchment

Water ◽

10.3390/w11051075 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (5) ◽

pp. 1075 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Elif Sertel ◽

Mehmet Zeki Imamoglu ◽

Gokhan Cuceloglu ◽

Ali Erturk

Keyword(s):

Land Cover ◽

Soil Water ◽

Surface Runoff ◽

Meteorological Data ◽

Swat Model ◽

Hydrologic Model ◽

Base Flow ◽

Hydrological Processes ◽

Flow Surface ◽

The Impact

This research aimed to evaluate the impact of land cover/use changes on watershed responses and hydrological processes by applying the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) distributed hydrologic model to the Buyukcekmece Water Basin of Istanbul Metropolitan city. SWAT model was run for two different scenarios for the 40-year period between 1973 and 2012, after completing calibration procedures under gauge-data scarce conditions. For the first scenario, 1990 dated Land cover/land use (LCLU) map and meteorological data obtained between 1973 and 2012 were used. For the second scenario, 2006 dated LCLU map and same meteorological data were used to analyze the impact of changing landscape characteristics on hydrological processes. In the selected watershed, LCLU changes started towards the end of the 1980s and reached a significant status in 2006; therefore, 1990 and 2006 dated LCLU maps are important to model human impact period in the watershed. Afterwards, LCLU changes within sub-basin level were investigated to quantify the effects of different types of land changes on the major hydrological components such as actual evapotranspiration, percolation, soil water, base flow, surface runoff and runoff. Our analysis indicated that, under the same climatic conditions, changes in land cover/use, specifically urbanization, played a considerable role in hydrological dynamics with changes on actual transpiration, base flow, surface runoff, runoff, percolation and soil water mainly due to urban and agricultural area changes. Among the different hydrological components analyzed at watershed level, percolation, ET and base flow were found to be highly sensitive to LCLU changes, whereas soil water was found as the least sensitive to same LCLU changes.

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Impact of land use and land cover change on the magnitude of surface runoff in the endorheic Hayk Lake basin, Ethiopia

SN Applied Sciences ◽

10.1007/s42452-021-04725-y ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 3 (8) ◽

Author(s):

Mezgebu Mewded ◽

Adane Abebe ◽

Seifu Tilahun ◽

Zeleke Agide

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Land Use ◽

Land Cover ◽

Lake Water ◽

Surface Runoff ◽

Management Strategies ◽

Lake Basin ◽

Landsat Images ◽

The Impact ◽

Reduced Surface

AbstractThis study focused to analyze the main human-induced land use and/or cover changes and their impact on the response to surface runoff from the Hayk Lake endorheic basin between 1989 and 2015. The investigation of Landsat images of years 1989, 2000 and 2015 with the aid of ArcGIS 10.1 indicated an increase in cultivation land by 137.74% at the disbursement of a decrease of 1.34% in lake water, 49.48% in shrubland, 55.84% in plantation, and 17.32% in grassland. Overall accuracy (92%–96%) and kappa values (0.90–0.95) proved that the image classifications were accurate. The impact of the changed land use and/or cover on surface runoff was investigated by simulating the surface runoff for the years 1989, 2000 and 2015, and then quantifying the individual rate of contribution of land use and/or cover change on the magnitude of simulated surface runoff using HEC-HMS modeling tool. The analysis found that land use and cover change alone increased surface runoff by 20.18% and that climate change reduced surface runoff by 120.18%. The combined effect reduced surface runoff and caused a continued decline in water level at Hayk Lake. Therefore, this study advocated basin-based lake water management strategies linked to the negative impacts of land use and land cover, and climate change on the water balance of Hayk Lake for its sustainability.

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Local climate change projections and impact on the surface hydrology in the Vea catchment, West Africa

Hydrology Research ◽

10.2166/nh.2021.096 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Isaac Larbi ◽

Fabien C. C. Hountondji ◽

Sam-Quarcoo Dotse ◽

Daouda Mama ◽

Clement Nyamekye ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Water Resources ◽

West Africa ◽

Surface Runoff ◽

Swat Model ◽

Northern Ghana ◽

Water Yield ◽

Mean Annual Temperature ◽

Ensemble Mean ◽

The Impact

Abstract Water security has been a major challenge in the semi-arid area of West Africa including Northern Ghana, where climate change is projected to increase if appropriate measures are not taken. This study assessed rainfall and temperature projections and its impact on the water resources in the Vea catchment using an ensemble mean of four bias-corrected Regional Climate Models and Statistical Downscaling Model-Decision Centric (SDSM-DC) simulations. The ensemble mean of the bias-corrected climate simulations was used as input to an already calibrated and validated Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model, to assess the impact of climate change on actual evapotranspiration (ET), surface runoff and water yield, relative to the baseline (1990–2017) period. The results showed that the mean annual temperature and actual ET would increase by 1.3 °C and 8.3%, respectively, for the period 2020–2049 under the medium CO2 emission (RCP4.5) scenario, indicating a trend towards a dryer climate. The surface runoff and water yield are projected to decrease by 42.7 and 38.7%, respectively. The projected decrease in water yield requires better planning and management of the water resources in the catchment.

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Carbon Dynamics in the Northeastern Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau from 1990 to 2030 Using Landsat Land Use/Cover Change Data

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs12030528 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (3) ◽

pp. 528 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jingye Li ◽

Jian Gong ◽

Jean-Michel Guldmann ◽

Shicheng Li ◽

Jie Zhu

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Tibetan Plateau ◽

Carbon Storage ◽

Sharp Decrease ◽

Total Carbon ◽

Qinghai Lake ◽

Lake Basin ◽

Ecosystem Carbon ◽

Trade Offs ◽

The Impact

Land use/cover change (LUCC) has an important impact on the terrestrial carbon cycle. The spatial distribution of regional carbon reserves can provide the scientific basis for the management of ecosystem carbon storage and the formulation of ecological and environmental policies. This paper proposes a method combining the CA-based FLUS model and the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs (InVEST) model to assess the temporal and spatial changes in ecosystem carbon storage due to land-use changes over 1990–2015 in the Qinghai Lake Basin (QLB). Furthermore, future ecosystem carbon storage is simulated and evaluated over 2020–2030 under three scenarios of natural growth (NG), cropland protection (CP), and ecological protection (EP). The long-term spatial variations in carbon storage in the QLB are discussed. The results show that: (1) Carbon storage in the QLB decreased at first (1990–2000) and increased later (2000–2010), with total carbon storage increasing by 1.60 Tg C (Teragram: a unit of mass equal to 1012 g). From 2010 to 2015, carbon storage displayed a downward trend, with a sharp decrease in wetlands and croplands as the main cause; (2) Under the NG scenario, carbon reserves decrease by 0.69 Tg C over 2020–2030. These reserves increase significantly by 6.77 Tg C and 7.54 Tg C under the CP and EP scenarios, respectively, thus promoting the benign development of the regional ecological environment. This study improves our understanding on the impact of land-use change on carbon storage for the QLB in the northeastern Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau (QTP).

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Hydrologic evaluation and effects of climate change on the Nong Han Lake Basin, northeastern Thailand

Journal of Water and Climate Change ◽

10.2166/wcc.2019.040 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (4) ◽

pp. 992-1000

Author(s):

Jirawat Supakosol ◽

Kowit Boonrawd

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Assessment Tool ◽

Swat Model ◽

Climate Projections ◽

Lake Basin ◽

Model Soil ◽

Regional Climates ◽

Water Assessment ◽

Effective Water ◽

Northeastern Thailand

Abstract The purpose of this study is to investigate the future runoff into the Nong Han Lake under the effects of climate change. The hydrological model Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) has been selected for this study. The calibration and validation were performed by comparing the simulated and observed runoff from gauging station KH90 for the period 2001–2003 and 2004–2005, respectively. Future climate projections were generated by Providing Regional Climates for Impacts Studies (PRECIS) under the A2 and B2 scenarios. The SWAT model yielded good results in comparison to the baseline; moreover, the results of the PRECIS model showed that both precipitations and temperatures increased. Consequently, the amount of runoff calculated by SWAT under the A2 and B2 scenarios was higher than that for the baseline. In addition, the amount of runoff calculated considering the A2 scenario was higher than that considering the B2 scenario, due to higher average annual precipitations in the former case. The methodology and results of this study constitute key information for stakeholders, especially for the development of effective water management systems in the lake, such as designing a rule curve to cope with any future incidents.

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