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.     

Monitoring and predicting land use change in Tripoli Metropolitan City using an integrated Markov chain and cellular automata models in GIS

The rapid development of cities in developing countries results in deteriorating of agricultural lands. The majority of these agricultural lands are converted to urban areas, which affects the ecosystems. In this research, an integrated model of Markov chain and cellular automata models was applied to simulate urban land use changes and to predict their spatial patterns in Tripoli metropolitan area, Libya. It is worth mentioning that there is not much research has been done about land use/cover change in Libyan cities. In this study, the performance of integrated CA–Markov model was assessed. Firstly, the Markov chain model was used to simulate and predict the land use change quantitatively; then, the CA model was applied to simulate the dynamic spatial patterns of changes explicitly. The urban land use change from 1984 to 2010 was modelled using the CA–Markov model for calibration to compute optimal transition rules and to predict future land use change. In validation process, the model was validated using Kappa index statistics which resulted in overall accuracy more than 85 %. Finally, based on transition rules and transition area matrix produced from calibration process, the future land use changes of 2020 and 2025 were predicted and mapped. The findings of this research showed reasonably good performance of employed model. The model results demonstrate that the study area is growing very rapidly especially in the recent decade. Furthermore, this rapid urban expansion results in remarkable continuous decrease of agriculture lands.     

汾河上游土地利用变化及其水文响应研究

以河岔水文站以上的汾河流域为研究区,采用土地利用转移矩阵和SWAT模型模拟方法,就汾河上游土地利用变化对水文过程的影响进行研究. 流域从1995-2000年,以耕地向林地和草地转变为主;从2000-2010年,城市建设用地不断增加,主要是对耕地的占用. 结果显示,在相同气候背景、不同土地利用情景（1995、2000年2010年）下,流域1992-2000年多年平均产水量微弱增加（分别为85.69 mm、85.75 mm和85.82 mm）,主要因为耕地持续减少,草地和城市建设用地不断增加. 但是各年产水量的大小关系不完全一致,枯水年和平水年与丰水年存在差异,而土壤水分呈现一致的减少状况. 子流域水平上,降水条件同样影响水文过程对土地利用变化的响应程度. 以上结果表明,汾河流域在退耕还林还草政策等影响下,土地利用发生变化并且直接影响流域的水文过程,但是流域水文过程对土地利用变化的响应还受到降水的影响.     

Land use change assessment in coastal mangrove forests of Iran utilizing satellite imagery and CA–Markov algorithms to monitor and predict future change

Mangrove forest stores large organic carbon stocks in a setting that is highly vulnerable to climate change and direct anthropogenic influences. As such there is a need to elucidate the causes and consequences of land use change on these ecosystems that have high value in terms of ecosystem services. We examine the areal pattern of land types in a coastal region located in southern Iran over a period of 14 years to predict future loss and gain in land types to the year 2025. We applied a CA–Markov model to simulate and predict mangrove forest change. Landsat satellite images from 2000 to 2014 were used to analyze the land cover changes between soil, open water and mangroves. Major changes during this period were observed in soil and water which could be attributed to rising sea level. Furthermore, the mangrove area in the more seaward position was converted to open water due to sea-level rise. A cellular automata model was then used to predict the land cover changes that would occur by the year 2025. Results demonstrated that approximately 21 ha of mangrove area will be converted to open water, while mangroves are projected to expand by approximately 28 ha in landward direction. These changes need to be delineated to better inform precise mitigation and adaptation measures.     

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.     

Simulation of nitrogen and phosphorus loads in the Dongjiang River basin in South China using SWAT

Population growth, urbanization, and intensified agriculture have resulted in mobilization of nitrogen and phosphorus, which is the main cause of river water quality deterioration. Environmental regulation has expedited the necessity for agricultural producers to design and implement more environmentally suitable practices. Therefore, there is a need to identify critical nutrients and their loss/transport potential. Watershed model can be used to better understand the relationship between land use activities/management and hydrologic processes/water quality changes that occur within a watershed. The objective of the study is to test the performance of the SWAT model and the feasibility of using this model as a simulator of water flow and nitrogen and phosphorus yields over the Dongjiang River basin in South China. Spatial data layers of land slope, soil type, and land use were combined with geographic information system (GIS) to aid in creating model inputs. The observed streamflow and sediment at Boluo station in the Dongjiang River basin were used to calibrate and validate the model. Time series plots and statistical measures were used to verify model predictions. Predicted values generally matched well with the observed values during calibration and validation (R ²≥0.6 and Nash-Suttcliffe Efficiency ≥0.5) except for underestimation of sediment peaks and overestimation of sediment valleys at Boluo. This study shows that SWAT is able to predict streamflow, sediment generation, and nutrients transport with satisfactory results.     

Evaluation of changes in ecological security in China’s Qinghai Lake Basin from 2000 to 2013 and the relationship to land use and climate change

Ecological security evaluation is an important way to identify the need for improvement in a watershed and to assess the degree of regional sustainable development. Using a driver–pressure–state–exposure–response model, a comprehensive system of ecological security indicators was developed, and it was demonstrated in a case study of the main ecological problems facing the Qinghai Lake Basin. Indicators of the status of the natural ecological environment, socioeconomic pressure, and the degree of environmental damage were chosen to develop the model, and comprehensively evaluated the basin’s ecological security in 2000, 2004, 2009, and 2013 to reveal changes in the ecological security in response to changing climate and land use. The overall ecological security of the basin improved from 2000 to 2013, with considerable restoration and reconstruction of the ecosystem. From 2000 to 2004, environmental deterioration increased slightly as a result of pollution caused by human activities, excess land reclamation for agriculture, land desertification, and grassland degeneration. However, the obvious effect of ecological protection policies, such as conversion of farmland into grassland and stall feeding of livestock instead of grazing, led to improvement of the ecological environment from 2004 to 2013. Ecological security in the basin increased with increasing precipitation during the study period.     

Runoff and sediment yield modeling using SWAT model: case of Wadi Hatab basin,central Tunisia

This study presents an application of the model Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to simulate daily and monthly water flow and sediment fluxes in the Wadi Hatab watershed (2200 km²) located in central Tunisia. The study basin is characterized by a significant climatic contrast, abrupt topography, and soil fragility, resulting thereby in flash floods and important water erosion rates. This alarming situation requires urgent interventions in order to preserve water and soil resources, implying the need for a decision tool for proper integrated management of the watershed. The model was calibrated and validated based on a comparison of simulated and observed flow rates at the basin outlet (hydrometric station Khanguet Zazia), during the periods 1987–1988 and 1989–1990, respectively. The comparison was based not only on visual inspection of the agreement between observed and simulated time series, but also on statistical parameters. Indeed, for the daily time step application, the Nash—Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) values were 0.52 and 0.61, and the coefficient of determination (R²) was 0.54 and 0.61 for calibration and validation, respectively. As for the monthly time-step application, the obtained NSE values were 0.67 and 0.89 while R² values were 0.83 and 0.87 for calibration and validation, respectively. This clearly shows the reasonably good agreement between simulated and observed flow rates. In terms of erosion, the model gave sediment yield values ??of 1.15 and 5.37 t/ha/year during the periods of calibration and validation, respectively.     

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。     

水文响应单元空间离散化及SWAT模型改进

水文响应单元(Hydrological Response Units,HRU)是SWAT模型模拟的基本单元,传统方法划分的水文响应单元在空间分布上不连续且难以确定其明确的空间位置,不能反映HRU间的相互作用和进行精确空间分析。利用GIS工具对土地利用和土壤类型数据进行概化处理,提出了HRU空间离散化的方法,实现了水文响应单元在空间上的准确定位。在此基础上,针对SWAT模型中同一子流域所有HRU采取相同延迟的弱点进行改进,并选择太湖地区西苕溪流域对改进的SWAT模型进行水文模拟验证。改进后,校正期港口站Nash效率系数E_NS(Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency)从0.64提高到0.67,验证期E_NS系数从0.70提高到0.76。研究表明:修正后的SWAT模型更能反映流域的水文特征,可以达到非常好的效果,考虑到HRU距离因素的径流延迟更为准确地刻画径流过程。实现HRU空间离散化将为模型改进和更小尺度的空间分析提供数据基础。     

Land use and land cover change and implication to watershed degradation by using GIS and remote sensing in the Koga watershed,North Western Ethiopia

Information on use/land cover change is important for planners and decision makers to implement sustainable use and management of resources. This study was intended to assess the land use land cover (LULC) change in the Koga watershed. The MSS of 1973, TM images of 1986, 1995 and 2011 were used together with survey and demographic data to detect the drivers of land cover changes. The result revealed that a remarkable LULC change occurred in the study area for the past thirty eight years. The area of cultivated and settlement has increased by 7054.6 ha, while, grass and bush lands decreased by 4846.5 and 3376 ha respectively. Wetland also declined from 580.2 ha to 68.3 ha. The growing demand for cultivable land and fuel wood were the major causes to the deterioration of grass and bush lands. Hence, the appropriate land use policy should be employed to sustain available resource in the watershed.     

Parameter estimation of SWAT and quantification of consequent confidence bands of model simulations

Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) is a river basin scale model widely used to study the impact of land management practices in large, complex watersheds. Even though model output uncertainties are generally recognized to affect watershed management decisions, those uncertainties are largely ignored in model applications. The uncertainties of SWAT simulations are quantified using various methods, but simultaneous attempt to calibrate a model so as to reduce the uncertainty are seldom done. This study aims to use an uncertainty reduction procedure that helps calibrate the SWAT model. The shuffled complex evolutionary metropolis algorithm for uncertainty analysis is employed for this purpose, and is demonstrated using the data from the St. Joseph River basin, USA. The values of the performance indices, the r² and the Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) for the simulations during calibration period was found to be 0.81 (same for r² and NSE) and 0.79 for validation period indicating a good simulation by the model. The results also indicate that the algorithm helps reduce the uncertainty (percentage of coverage?=?62% and average width?=?19.2 m³/s), and also identifies the plausible range of parameters that simulate the processes with less uncertainty. The confidence bands of simulations are obtained that can be employed in making uncertainty-based decisions on watershed management practices.     

不同耕地类型对流域水沙过程的影响研究

常用的水土保持措施是退耕还林,但淮河流域是中国重要的农业产区,大规模实行退耕还林并不现实,所以通过调整耕地类型来减少水土流失可能是解决社会经济发展和生态保护矛盾的好方法。为研究不同耕地类型对流域水文要素及产沙的影响,考虑水田和旱地两种耕地类型对淮河息县水文站上游流域构建SWAT模型,构造A(实际耕地利用方式)、B(所有耕地为水田)和C(所有耕地为旱地)三种耕地类型情景,比较不同耕地类型情景下流域水文要素及产沙的变化情况。研究结果表明:所构建的SWAT模型在息县流域径流及泥沙模拟中具有良好的适用性,R2和NSE(Nash Sutcliffe Efficiency)均达到0.75以上;水田和旱地两种不同耕地类型对流域多年年均蒸散发及多年平均径流量影响较小,但对流域产沙量影响较大,在汛期更为明显,模拟期内每平方公里水田每年最多比旱地少产沙491.8t,平均每年少产沙约208.7t。采取水田耕种比旱地耕种更有利于减少息县流域内的水土流失。     

Impact of water demand on hydrological regime under climate and LULC change scenarios

The present study focuses on an assessment of the impact of future water demand on the hydrological regime under land use/land cover (LULC) and climate change scenarios. The impact has been quantified in terms of streamflow and groundwater recharge in the Gandherswari River basin, West Bengal, India. dynamic conversion of land use and its effects (Dyna-CLUE) and statistical downscaling model (SDSM) are used for quantifying the future LULC and climate change scenarios, respectively. Physical-based semi-distributed model Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) is used for estimating future streamflow and spatiotemporally distributed groundwater recharge. Model calibration and validation have been performed using discharge data (1990–2016). The impacts of LULC and climate change on hydrological variables are evaluated with three scenarios (for the years 2030, 2050 and 2080). Temperature Vegetation Dyrness Index (TVDI) and evapotranspiration (ET) are considered for estimation of water-deficit conditions in the river basin. Exceedance probability and recurrence interval representation are considered for uncertainty analysis. The results show increased discharge in case of monsoon season and decreased discharge in case of the non-monsoon season for the years 2030 and 2050. However, a reverse trend is obtained for the year 2080. The overall increase in groundwater recharge is visible for all the years. This analysis provides valuable information for the irrigation water management framework.     

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。     

Assessing the impacts of land use changes on watershed hydrology using MIKE SHE

A fully distributed, physically-based hydrologic modeling system, MIKE SHE, was used in this study to investigate whole-watershed hydrologic response to land use changes within the Gyeongancheon watershed in Korea. A grid of 200 × 200 m was established to represent spatial variations in geology, soil, and land use. Initial model performance was evaluated by comparing observed and simulated streamflow from 1988 to 1991. Results indicated that the calibrated MIKE SHE model was able to predict streamflow well during the calibration and validation periods. Proportional changes in five classes of land use within the watershed were derived from multi-temporal Landsat TM imageries taken in 1980, 1990 and 2000. These imageries revealed that the watershed experienced conversion of approximately 10% non-urban area to urban area between 1980 and 2000. The calibrated MIKE SHE model was then programmed to repeatedly analyze an artificial dataset under the various land use proportions identified in the Landsat TM imageries. The analysis was made to quantitatively assess the impact of land use changes (predominantly urbanization) on watershed hydrology. There were increases in total runoff (5.5%) and overland flow (24.8%) as a response to the land use change.     

SWAT模型在海拉尔河流域径流模拟中的应用研究

以海拉尔河上游流域作为研究区域,基于Arc GIS构建SWAT分布式水文模型对流域水文过程进行模拟,通过对流域的基础数据整合,模型采用1999~2003年实测径流数据进行参数率定,将2004~2010年实测径流数据作为模型的验证期,对模型在海拉尔河上游的适用性进行研究。通过对月和年径流模拟值和实测值的比较,率定期和验证期的Nash系数Ens和相关系数R2分别在0.861~0.873和0.877~0.899之间。基于这两个评价标准可知:SWAT模型在海拉尔河上游流域有良好的适用性,可以为该流域的水资源管理提供依据。     

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.     

Streamflow modeling in a fluctuant climate using SWAT: Yass River catchment in south eastern Australia

Hydrological models play vital roles in understanding and management of surface water resources. The physically based distributed model Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was applied to a small catchment in south eastern Australia to determine its ability to mimic low and high streamflows. The model was successfully calibrated using 1993–2002 streamflow data and validated using 2003–2011 data with a combination of manual and auto-calibration techniques for both monthly and daily time steps. Sensitivity analysis indicated that curve number for moisture condition II (CN2) is the most sensitive parameter for both time steps. In general, the model performance statistics indicated “very good” agreement between measured and simulated discharges for both calibration and validation periods. The model was able to satisfactorily simulate both low and high flows of the Yass River. Analysis of water balance components indicated that more than 90 % of the rainfall is lost as evapotranspiration and about 45 % of the streamflow is base flow. The calibrated and validated SWAT model can be used to analyze the effect of climate and land use changes on catchment wide hydrologic process.     

Sediment yield assessment and identification of check dam sites for Rawal Dam catchment

Sediment yield is the amount of erosional debris from drainage basin deposited in reservoirs. The economic life of storage reservoir depends upon the estimation of the time it takes for the reservoir to be filled with the deposition of sediments. This research is based on assessing the sediment yield in Rawal Dam catchment by using Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model. Digital Elevation Model (DEM), land use maps, soil maps, and weather data of the study watershed were used as input to SWAT model. Monthly sedimentation data of year 2010 and discharge data from 1998 to 2005 is being used for model calibration and validation, respectively. Whereas simulations are being generated from 1998 to 2011 for both sedimentation and discharge. Modified Universal Soil Loss Equation (MUSLE) was used for the estimation of sediment yield. The Nash and Sutcliffe coefficient of the model was found to be 0.79 which depicts its effectiveness. After the estimation of the sediment yield and discharge by using SWAT model, double mass curve was used to evaluate the sedimentation rate. The rate of sediment transport can be reduced by the construction of check dams. Various sites have also been proposed for check dams construction to prevent the sediments transported into the Rawal Catchment.