Evaluation of the SWAT model for water balance study of a mountainous snowfed river basin of Nepal

In this study, a semi-distributed hydrologic model Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) has been employed for the Karnali River basin, Nepal to test its applicability for hydrological simulation. Further, model was evaluated to carry out the water balance study of the basin and to determine the snowmelt contribution in the river flow. Snowmelt Runoff Model (SRM) was also used to compare the snowmelt runoff simulated from the SWAT model. The statistical results show that performance of the SWAT model in the Karnali River basin is quite good (p-factor = 0.88 and 0.88, for daily calibration and validation, respectively; r-factor = 0.76 and 0.71, for daily calibration and validation, respectively). Baseflow alpha factor (ALPHA_BF) was found most sensitive parameter for the flow simulation. The study revealed that the average annual runoff volume available at the basin outlet is about 47.16 billion cubic metre out of which about 12% of runoff volume is contributed by the snowmelt runoff. About 25% of annual precipitation seems to be lost as evapotranspiration. The results revealed that both the models, SWAT and SRM, can be efficiently applied in the mountainous river basins of Nepal for planning and management of water resources.     

Impact assessment of land cover changes on the runoff changes on the extreme flood events in the Kelantan River basin

In the current years, changing the land cover/land use had serious hydrological impacts affecting the flood events in the Kelantan River basin. The flood events at the east coast of the peninsular Malaysia got highly affected in the recent decades due to several factors like urbanisation, rapid changes in the utilisation of land and lack of meteorological (i.e. change in climate) and developmental monitoring and planning. The Kelantan River basin has been highly influenced due to a rapid change in land use during 1984 to 2013, which occurred in the form of transformation of agricultural area and deforestation (logging activities). In order to evaluate the influence of the modifications in land cover on the flood events, two hydrological regional models of rainfall-induced runoff event, the Hydrologic Engineering Center (HEC)-Hydrologic Modeling System (HMS) model and improved transient rainfall infiltration and grid-based regional model (Improved TRIGRS), were employed in this study. The responses of land cover changes on the peak flow and runoff volume were investigated using 10 days of hourly rainfall events from 20 December to the end of December 2014 at the study area. The usage of two hydrological models defined that the changes in land use/land cover caused momentous changes in hydrological response towards water flow. The outcomes also revealed that the increase of severe water flow at the study area is a function of urbanisation and deforestation, particularly in the conversion of the forest area to the less canopy coverage, for example, oil palm, mixed agriculture and rubber. The monsoon season floods and runoff escalate in the cleared land or low-density vegetation area, while the normal flow gets the contribution from interflow generated from secondary jungle and forested areas.     

Impact of river network type on the time of concentration

Time of concentration (T _c) is one of the frequently used parameters to characterize the response of a drainage basin to a rainfall event. Conceptually, it is the time runoff travels from the hydraulically most distant location in a basin to its outlet. T _c was found to vary depending on river basin characteristics such as slope, soil infiltration, and flow path. In this study, we investigate if the drainage network type information can be used as an input to hydrological models, by estimating the time of concentration separately for different network types. Sixty-eight basins which have areas ranging from 24 to 965 km² in arid and non-arid regions of the USA are compared and the effect of climate is also analyzed. It is found that the slope of the linear relationship between T _c and the maximum hydraulic length of flow path shows different correlation coefficients ranging from 0.80 to 0.98 for different network types. It is observed that the slope of the regression line between T _c and the maximum hydraulic length of flow path is the lowest for dendritic networks (slope of 0.26), while pinnate networks have the steepest slope of the regression line (slope of 0.59). This indicates that the drainage network type has a direct impact on the hydrological behavior of the basin and can represent a direct input in hydrological modeling.     

Use of SWAT to determine the effects of climate and land use changes on streamflow and sediment concentration in the Purna River basin,India

A semi-distributed, physically based, basin-scale Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model was developed to determine the key factors that influence streamflow and sediment concentration in Purna river basin in India and to determine the potential impacts of future climate and land use changes on these factors. A SWAT domain with a Geographical Information System (GIS) was utilized for simulating and determining monthly streamflow and sediment concentration for the period 1980–2005 with a calibration period of 1980–1994 and validation period of 1995 to 2005. Additionally, a sequential uncertainty fitting (SUFI-2) method within SWAT-CUP was used for calibration and validation purpose. The overall performance of the SWAT model was assessed using the coefficient of determination (R²) and Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency parameter (E_NS) for both calibration and validation. For the calibration period, the R² and E_NS values were determined to be 0.91 and 0.91, respectively. For the validation period, the R² and E_NS were determined to be 0.83 and 0.82, respectively. The model performed equally well with observed sediment data in the basin, with the R² and E_NS determined to be 0.80 and 0.75 for the calibration period and 0.75 and 0.65 for the validation, respectively. The projected precipitation and temperature show an increasing trend compared to the baseline condition. The study indicates that SWAT is capable of simulating long-term hydrological processes in the Purna river basin.     

祁连山黑河干流山区水文模拟研究进展

流域水文模拟是在认识水文规律的基础上, 对流域水文过程的一种数学描述.黑河流域作为典型的内陆河流域历来是研究寒区、 旱区水文过程的热点区域.祁连山黑河干流山区的水文模拟研究也备受学者们的关注, 经验模型、 概念模型和分布式水文模型在该区域均有应用, 虽然都对出山径流做出了准确的模拟, 但是引进的模型对高寒山区水文过程的刻画不够详细.内陆河高寒山区流域的水文模拟要充分考虑冰川、 积雪、 冻土等因素所引起的特殊寒区水文过程, 准确刻画这些水文过程是高寒山区流域水文模拟成功的关键.今后应该继续加强野外观测, 深入开展冻土水文过程、 冰雪水文过程的模拟研究, 发展真正适合于高寒山区流域水文过程的分布式水文模型.     

Spatial and temporal variation in the trends of hydrological response of forested watersheds in Thailand

Thailand has undergone significant forest cover changes in recent decades, and this is likely to have altered the hydrological functioning of many watersheds; however, such potential impacts are not fully understood. To contribute towards a better understanding of the potential hydrological impacts of forest cover changes, this study examines the temporal trends of several hydrological indices in eight watersheds of Thailand over the period from 1982 to 2013. A number of hydrological indices (runoff coefficient, baseflow index, flow duration indices, streamflow elasticity, dryness index) were analysed using a combined Thiel–Sen/Mann–Kendall trend-testing approach, to assess the magnitude and significance of patterns in the observed data. These trend tests indicated that the change in the hydrological response of watersheds varied with the change in structure and composition of forest species. A significant increase in runoff (viz. average flow) was observed in those watersheds covered with natural forests, whereas a significant reduction in runoff (viz. baseflow and low runoff) was observed in those watersheds where the land cover was changed to Para rubber plantations and reforested areas. It is also noteworthy that the watersheds covered by natural forest showed more streamflow elasticity than plantations or reforested areas. These results highlight the importance of considering both forest types/dynamics and watershed characteristics when assessing hydrological impacts.     

Assessment of land use land cover change impact on hydrological regime of a basin

The sustainability of water resources mainly depends on planning and management of land use; a small change in it may affect water yield largely, as both are linked through relevant hydrological processes, explicitly. However, human activities, especially a significant increase in population, in-migration and accelerated socio-economic activities, are constantly modifying the land use and land cover (LULC) pattern. The impact of such changes in LULC on the hydrological regime of a basin is of widespread concern and a great challenge to the water resource engineers. While studying these impacts, the issue that prevails is the selection of a hydrological model that may be able to accommodate spatial and temporal dynamics of the basin with higher accuracy. Therefore, in the present study, the capabilities of variable infiltration capacity hydrological model to hydrologically simulate the basin under varying LULC scenarios have been investigated. For the present analysis, the Pennar River Basin, Andhra Pradesh, which falls under a water scarce region in India, has been chosen. The water balance components such as runoff potential, evapotranspiration (ET) and baseflow of Pennar Basin have been simulated under different LULC scenarios to study the impact of change on hydrological regime of a basin. Majorly, increase in built-up (13.94% approx.) and decrease in deciduous forest cover (2.44%) are the significant changes observed in the basin during the last three decades. It was found that the impact of LULC change on hydrology is balancing out at basin scale (considering the entire basin, while routing the runoff at the basin outlet). Therefore, an analysis on spatial variation in each of the water balance components considered in the study was done at grid scale. It was observed that the impact of LULC is considerable spatially at grid level, and the maximum increase of 265 mm (1985–2005) and the decrease of 48 mm (1985–1995) in runoff generation at grid were estimated. On the contrary, ET component showed the maximum increase of 400 and decrease of 570 mm under different LULC change scenario. Similarly, in the base flow parameter, an increase of 70 mm and the decrease of 100 mm were observed. It was noticed that the upper basin is showing an increasing trend in almost all hydrological components as compared to the lower basin. Based on this basin scale study, it was concluded that change in the land cover alters the hydrology; however, it needs to be studied at finer spatial scale rather than the entire basin as a whole. The information like the spatial variation in hydrological components may be very useful for local authority and decision-makers to plan mitigation strategies accordingly.     

滦河流域土地利用/覆被变化的水文响应

以滦河流域为研究区,利用1985和2000年土地利用数据,结合SWAT分布式水文模型定量评价了流域土地利用/覆被变化的水文效应,并分析了流域地表径流变化与主要景观类型的响应关系。结果表明:SWAT（Soil and Water Assessment Tool）模型可以较好地模拟滦河流域的月流量过程,在研究区具有较好的适用性;1985—2000年流域林地向草地和耕地的转变导致流域年均地表径流和总径流量分别增加了12.6%和5.1%;并使得流域年均地表径流变化空间差异显著,整体呈增加趋势,且主要受到林地变化的影响,而在三道河子以上集水区地表径流的变化则主要受到耕地景观的影响。合理规划土地利用格局,对于流域水资源可持续利用具有重要意义。     

新疆阿尔泰山区克兰河上游水文过程对气候变暖的响应

额尔齐斯河支流克兰河上游发源于西风带水汽影响的阿尔泰山南坡,主要由融雪径流补给,年内积雪融水可占年径流量的45%.年最大月径流一般出现在6月份,融雪季节4~6月径流量占65%.流域自20世纪60年代开始明显升温,年平均温度从50年代的1.4℃上升到90年代的5.2℃;年降水总量也呈增加趋势,尤其是冬季和初春增加最多.随着气候变暖,河流年内水文过程发生了很大的变化,主要表现在最大月径流由6月提前到5月,月径流总量增加约15%,4~6月融雪径流量也由占年流量的60%增加到近70%.在多年变化趋势上,气温上升主要发生在冬季,降水也以冬季增加明显,而夏季降水呈下降趋势;水文过程主要表现在5月径流呈增加趋势,而6月径流为下降趋势;夏季径流减少而春季径流增加明显.冬春季积雪增加和气温上升,导致融雪洪水增多且洪峰流量增大,使洪水灾害破坏性加大.近些年来气候变暖引起的年内水文过程变化,已经对河流下游的城市供水和农牧业生产产生了影响.     

Hydrological situation of a typical watershed in the Loess Tableland Area of China over the past 30 years

Due to deficient water resources in the Loess Plateau, watershed management plays a very important role, not only for ecological and environmental protection but also for the social development of the region. To better understand the hydrological and water resource variations in the typical watershed of the Loess Plateau and the Qinghe River Basin, the influences of land cover and climate change were analysed, and a SWAT model was built to simulate the response of the hydrological situation to land cover changes that have occurred over the past 30 years. The results demonstrated that the main land cover change occurring in the Qinghe River Basin was the conversion of land cover from grassland to woodland and farmland from the late 1980s to 2010. Woodland and farmland took 87.36 and 10.55%, respectively, from the overall area transferred over 20 years and more than 18% of the total watershed area. Hydrological simulation results indicated that land cover played a predominant role in the hydrological variation of the Qinghe River Basin, although the effects of climate change should not be discounted. The significant changes in land cover could be superimposed by policy orientation and economic requirements. Although it is hard to evaluate the land cover changes and the corresponding hydrological responses in a simple language, related analyses have demonstrated an increasing trend of runoff in the dry season, while there is a somewhat decreasing trend during the flood season in the river basin. There results could be significant and provide a positive influence on both future flood control and the conservation of water and soil.     

Effects of historical and projected land use/cover change on runoff and sediment yield in the Netravati river basin,Western Ghats,India

In this study, the effects of changes in historical and projected land use land cover (LULC) on monthly streamflow and sediment yield for the Netravati river basin in the Western Ghats of India are explored using land use maps from six time periods (1972, 1979, 1991, 2000, 2012, and 2030) and the soil and water assessment tool (SWAT). The LULC for 2030 is projected using the land change modeller with the assumption of normal growth. The sensitivity analysis, model calibration, and validation indicated that the SWAT model could reasonably simulate streamflow and sediment yield in the river basin. The results showed that the spatial extent of the LULC classes of urban (1.80–9.96%), agriculture (31.38–55.75%), and water bodies (1.48–2.66%) increased, whereas that of forest (53.04–27.03%), grassland (11.17–4.41%), and bare land (1.09–0.16%) decreased from 1972 to 2030. The streamflow increased steadily (7.88%) with changes in LULC, whereas the average annual sediment yield decreased (0.028%) between 1972 and 1991 and increased later (0.029%) until 2012. However, it may increase by 0.43% from 2012 to 2030. The results indicate that LULC changes in urbanization and agricultural intensification have contributed to the increase in runoff, amounting to 428.65 and 58.67 mm, respectively, and sediment yield, amounting to 348 and 43 ton/km², respectively, in the catchment area from 1972 to 2030. The proposed methodology can be applied to other river basins for which temporal digital LULC maps are available for better water resource management plans.     

平治河岩溶流域退水规律分析与降雨径流模拟

以平治河岩溶流域为研究对象,分析其地下退水规律,将其划分为9个子流域,在传统新安江模型基础上,将地下径流划分为慢速和快速地下径流,分别采用两个线性水库进行模拟,构建降雨-径流模拟方案,并选取2011-2015年期间的7场洪水作为率定期洪水,以确定性系数（DC）最大为优化目标,应用遗传算法率定模型参数,而以8场洪水作为验证期洪水进行验证分析,获得率定期合格率为85.71%,平均确定性系数为0.846,验证期合格率为75%,平均确定性系数为0.893,达到乙级精度。其结果表明所构建的模拟方案能够较好地模拟该流域的径流规律。      

Study on the runoff and sediment-producing effects of precipitation in headwater areas of the Yangtze River and Yellow River,China

Natural runoff observation fields with different vegetation coverage were established in the Zuomaoxikongqu River basin in the headwater area of the Yangtze River, and in the Natong River basin and the Kuarewaerma River basin in the headwater area of the Yellow River, China. The experiments were conducted using natural precipitation and artificially simulated precipitation between July and August to study the runoff and sediment-producing effects of precipitation under the conditions of the same slope and different alpine meadow land with coverage in the headwater areas. The results show that, in the three small river basins in the headwater areas of the Yangtze and the Yellow Rivers, the surface runoff yield on the 30° slope surface of the alpine meadow land with a vegetation cover of 30% is markedly larger than that of the fields with a vegetation cover of 95, 92, and 68%. Furthermore, the sediment yield is also obviously larger than the latter three; on an average, the sediment yield caused by a single precipitation event is 2–4 times as large as the latter three. Several typical precipitation forms affecting the runoff yield on the slope surface also influence the process. No matter how the surface conditions are; the rainfall is still the main precipitation form causing soil erosion. In some forms of precipitation, such as the greatest snow melting as water runoff, the sediment yield is minimal. Under the condition of the same precipitation amount, snowfall can obviously increase the runoff yield, roughly 2.1–3.5 times as compared to the combined runoff yield of the Sleet or that of rainfall alone; but meanwhile, the sediment yield and soil erosion rate decrease, roughly decreasing by 45.4–80.3%. High vegetation cover can effectively decrease the runoff-induced erosion. This experimental result is consistent in the three river basins in the headwater areas of the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers.     

Wetland cover change detection using multi-temporal remotely sensed data

Lake Urmia, located in northwest Iran, contains a number of wetlands significantly affecting the environmental, social, and economic conditions of the region. The ecological condition of Lake Urmia has degraded during the past decade, due to climate change, human activities, and unsustainable management. The poor condition of the lake has also affected the surrounding wetlands. This study analyzes the land cover change of one of the wetlands in the southern part of Lake Urmia, known as Ghara-Gheshlagh wetland, in the period 1989–2015 using post-classification change detection and machine learning image classification. For this analysis, three Landsat images, acquired in 1989 (TM), 2001 (TM), and 2015 (Landsat-8), were used for the classification and change detection. Support vector machine learning algorithm, a supervised learning method, is employed, and images are classified into four main land cover classes namely “water,” ”barren,” “salty land,” and “agriculture and grassland.” Change detection was carried out for pairs of years 1989 to 2001 and 2001 until 2015. The results of this classification show that there is a sharp increase in the area of salt-saturated land as well as a decrease in the area of water resources. Overall classification accuracy obtained were high for the individual years: 1989 (91.48%), 2001 (90.63%), and 2015 (88.6%). Also, the Kappa coefficients for individual maps were high: 1989 (0.89), 2001 (0.8742), and 2015 (0.84). After that, the land cover change map of the study area is obtained between 1989 to 2001 and then 2001 to 2015. The results of this analysis suggest that more efforts should be taken to effectively manage water resources in the region and point to potential locations for focused management actions within the wetland area.     

基于MIKE 11的北京市典型区域降雨径流特征研究

以北京城市化发展区凉水河大红门闸控制流域为典型区域,在分析区域20世纪80年代到2000年后下垫面变化特征的基础上,结合区域同时期的降水和径流资料,采用MIKE11软件中的UR-BAN模块构建流域降雨径流模型,以流域模拟流量和实测流量拟合效果最佳为原则,利于多场次的实测降水进行降雨径流的模拟分析,研究区域城市化发展对水文特性变化的影响。     

高寒山区冻土对水文过程的影响研究——以黑河上游八宝河为例

冻土对寒区水文过程具有重要的调节作用,是寒区水循环研究的核心内容之一.在分布式水文模型中对土壤冻融过程进行显式表达,对探索寒区水循环的机理、定量研究寒区流域径流的时空变化十分重要.先在黑河上游八宝河流域对考虑了土壤冻融过程的分布式水文模型进行简单验证,然后分析土壤冻融对流域水文过程的影响.对考虑和不考虑土壤冻融的模型模拟结果进行对比,发现冻土对流域的产流方式和速度有很大的影响,主要表现为：1）考虑冻土时,流域产流以壤中流为主,径流对降雨或融雪的响应速度较快,径流过程线变化较为剧烈,径流系数较高.冻土有效地阻碍了入渗过程,促进地表径流和壤中流的形成.壤中流发生的平均土壤深度冬季深,春季浅,年平均深度约为1.1 m;2）在不考虑冻土时,土壤下渗能力强,地下水补给是考虑冻土时的3倍,流域产流方式以基流为主,径流对降雨或融雪的响应速度减缓,径流过程线较为平滑,夏季洪峰在时间上存在明显的延迟.即便在降水强度较大的夏天,流域内都不会产生地表产流,而且壤中流产流的平均土壤深度平稳地处于2.4 m左右.研究对从机理上认识土壤冻融对水文过程的影响有一定的帮助.     

Remote sensing and GIS for artificial recharge study, runoff estimation and planning in Ayyar basin, Tamil Nadu, India

This paper focuses on artificial groundwater recharge study in Ayyar basin, Tamil Nadu, India. The basin is covered by hard crystalline rock and overall has poor groundwater conditions. Hence, an artificial recharge study was carried out in this region through a project sponsored by Tamil Nadu State Council for Science and Technology. The Indian Remote Sensing satellite 1A Linear Imaging Self Scanning Sensor II (IRS 1A LISS II) satellite imagery, aerial photographs and geophysical resistivity data were used to prioritize suitable sites for artificial recharge and to estimate the volume of aquifer dimension available to recharge. The runoff water available for artificial recharge in the basin is estimated through Soil Conservation Service curve number method. The land use/land cover, hydrological soil group and storm rainfall data in different watershed areas were used to calculate the runoff in the watersheds. The weighted curve number for each watershed is obtained through spatial intersection of land use/land cover and hydrological soil group through GeoMedia 3.0 Professional GIS software. Artificial recharge planning was derived on the basis of availability of runoff, aquifer dimension, priority areas and water table conditions in different watersheds in the basin.     

内陆河流域山区水文与生态研究

以河西走廊黑河干流山区流域为例,从山区水文循环、水文与生态系统以及径流形成和预测等方面讨论山区流域水文和生态相互作用研究的有关问题。山区降水的空间和时间分布规律和固态、液态降水组成变化主要受制于海拔和地形的影响,而不同海拔和地形条件下的下垫面不同土地覆被和复杂的空间异质性则主要影响蒸散发量。对内陆河山区流域的水文小循环的研究,有助于进一步研究和认识内陆河流域上、中、下游水文和生态系统的相互联系问题。至今,对山区水文过程与生态系统的相互作用问题的研究还非常薄弱,需要研究山区森林草地生态系统在山区水文循环中的作用以及在维持和保护山区生态和环境中的作用和意义。内陆河流域山区水文过程复杂而综合性强,须加强对山区径流形成机理的多学科交叉研究,不断改善出山径流对气候变化和人类活动响应过程的模拟和预测水平。     

Impact of forecasted land use changes on flood risk in the Polish Carpathians

Flooding is a major environmental hazard in Poland with risks that are likely to increase in the future. Land use and land cover (LULC) have a strong influencing on flood risk. In the Polish Carpathians, the two main projected land use change processes are forest expansion and urbanization. These processes have a contradictory impact on flood risk, which makes the future impact of LULC changes on flooding in the Carpathians hard to estimate. In this paper, we investigate the impact of the projected LULC changes on future flood risk in the Polish Carpathians for the test area of Ropa river basin. We used three models of spatially explicit future LULC scenarios for the year 2060. We conduct hydrological simulations for the current state and for the three projected land use scenarios (trend extrapolation, ‘liberalization’ and ‘self-sufficiency’). In addition, we calculated the amount of flood-related monetary losses, based on the current flood plain area and both actual and projected land use maps under each of the three scenarios. The results show that in the Ropa river, depending on scenario, either peak discharge decreases due to the forest expansion or the peak discharge remains constant—the impact of LULC changes on the hydrology of such mountainous basins is relatively low. However, the peak discharges are very diverse across sub-catchments within the modeling area. Despite the overall decrease of peak discharge, there are areas of flow increase and there is a substantial projected increase in flood-related monetary losses within the already flood-prone areas, related to the projected degree of urbanization.     

土地利用变化对海河流域典型区域的径流影响

为研究海河流域径流对土地利用变化的响应,以阜平流域、匡门口流域和界河铺流域为研究区,利用1970—2011年的水文气象资料,分析了不同土地利用的时空转移特征,然后结合SWAT(Soil and Water Assessment Tool)模型,设置4种土地利用情景,评价了土地利用变化对径流的影响。结果表明:模型能够较好地模拟全年及汛期月流量过程;多年径流量呈下降趋势,20世纪80年代到90年代中期呈波动性变化;不同的土地利用类型在时空上的转化呈现可逆性,主要是林地增加,草地减少,耕地略有增加;林地的增加和草地的减少会降低汛期径流量以及最大月径流量;汛期径流系数随着林地面积的增加而减小。合理地规划土地利用格局,对控制流域水文事件具有重要意义。