Sediment Yield Simulation Using SWAT Model for Water Environmental Protection in an Agricultural Watershed
Soil erosion in a catchment has becoming a serious environmental issue for an increasing damage to the surface ecological environment. To quantitatively simulate the sediment yield, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was introduced in Tao River Basin. The investigation was conducted using a 8-year historical observed sediment data from 2001 to 2008. The performance evaluation shows that the simulated monthly sediment yield matched the observed data satisfactorily, with Re was less than 15%, R2 > 0.9 and Nash-suttclife (Ens)>0.8 for both calibration (2001-2004) and validation period (2005-2008) at two observed stations, indicating the validity of SWAT model for sediment yield simulation in the study area. The results of this study can be helpful for solving the soil erosion issue for water environmental protection.