Assessing the impact of areal precipitation input on streamflow simulations using the SWAT model

Reduction of input uncertainty is a challenge in hydrological modeling. The widely used model Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) uses the data of a precipitation gauge nearest to the centroid of each subcatchment as an input for that subcatchment. This may not represent overall catchment precipitatio...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Masih, Ilyas, Maskey, S., Uhlenbrock, Silke, Smakhtin, Vladimir U.
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Wiley 2011
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/40518
_version_ 1855529983733137408
author Masih, Ilyas
Maskey, S.
Uhlenbrock, Silke
Smakhtin, Vladimir U.
author_browse Masih, Ilyas
Maskey, S.
Smakhtin, Vladimir U.
Uhlenbrock, Silke
author_facet Masih, Ilyas
Maskey, S.
Uhlenbrock, Silke
Smakhtin, Vladimir U.
author_sort Masih, Ilyas
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Reduction of input uncertainty is a challenge in hydrological modeling. The widely used model Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) uses the data of a precipitation gauge nearest to the centroid of each subcatchment as an input for that subcatchment. This may not represent overall catchment precipitation conditions well. This paper suggests an alternative - using areal precipitation obtained through interpolation. The effectiveness of this alternative is evaluated by comparing its simulations with those based on the standard SWAT precipitation input procedure. The model is applied to mountainous semiarid catchments in the Karkheh River basin, Iran. The model performance is evaluated at daily, monthly, and annual scales by using a number of performance indicators at 15 streamflow gauging stations each draining an area in the range of 590-42,620 km2. The comparison suggests that the use of areal precipitation improves model performance particularly in small subcatchments in the range of 600-1,600 km2. The modified areal precipitation input results in increased reliability of simulated streamflows in the areas of low rain gauge density. Both precipitation input methods result in reasonably good simulations for larger catchments (over 5,000 km2). The use of areal precipitation input improves the accuracy of simulated streamflows with spatial resolution and density of rain gauges having significant impact on results.
format Journal Article
id CGSpace40518
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2011
publishDateRange 2011
publishDateSort 2011
publisher Wiley
publisherStr Wiley
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace405182025-06-17T08:23:54Z Assessing the impact of areal precipitation input on streamflow simulations using the SWAT model Masih, Ilyas Maskey, S. Uhlenbrock, Silke Smakhtin, Vladimir U. simulation models hydrology precipitation stream flow river basins water resource management planning Reduction of input uncertainty is a challenge in hydrological modeling. The widely used model Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) uses the data of a precipitation gauge nearest to the centroid of each subcatchment as an input for that subcatchment. This may not represent overall catchment precipitation conditions well. This paper suggests an alternative - using areal precipitation obtained through interpolation. The effectiveness of this alternative is evaluated by comparing its simulations with those based on the standard SWAT precipitation input procedure. The model is applied to mountainous semiarid catchments in the Karkheh River basin, Iran. The model performance is evaluated at daily, monthly, and annual scales by using a number of performance indicators at 15 streamflow gauging stations each draining an area in the range of 590-42,620 km2. The comparison suggests that the use of areal precipitation improves model performance particularly in small subcatchments in the range of 600-1,600 km2. The modified areal precipitation input results in increased reliability of simulated streamflows in the areas of low rain gauge density. Both precipitation input methods result in reasonably good simulations for larger catchments (over 5,000 km2). The use of areal precipitation input improves the accuracy of simulated streamflows with spatial resolution and density of rain gauges having significant impact on results. 2011-02 2014-06-13T14:47:50Z 2014-06-13T14:47:50Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/40518 en Limited Access Wiley Masih, Ilyas; Maskey, S.; Uhlenbrook, S.; Smakhtin, Vladimir. 2010. Assessing the impact of areal precipitation input on streamflow simulations using the SWAT model. Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 47(1):179-195. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-1688.2010.00502.x
spellingShingle simulation models
hydrology
precipitation
stream flow
river basins
water resource management
planning
Masih, Ilyas
Maskey, S.
Uhlenbrock, Silke
Smakhtin, Vladimir U.
Assessing the impact of areal precipitation input on streamflow simulations using the SWAT model
title Assessing the impact of areal precipitation input on streamflow simulations using the SWAT model
title_full Assessing the impact of areal precipitation input on streamflow simulations using the SWAT model
title_fullStr Assessing the impact of areal precipitation input on streamflow simulations using the SWAT model
title_full_unstemmed Assessing the impact of areal precipitation input on streamflow simulations using the SWAT model
title_short Assessing the impact of areal precipitation input on streamflow simulations using the SWAT model
title_sort assessing the impact of areal precipitation input on streamflow simulations using the swat model
topic simulation models
hydrology
precipitation
stream flow
river basins
water resource management
planning
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/40518
work_keys_str_mv AT masihilyas assessingtheimpactofarealprecipitationinputonstreamflowsimulationsusingtheswatmodel
AT maskeys assessingtheimpactofarealprecipitationinputonstreamflowsimulationsusingtheswatmodel
AT uhlenbrocksilke assessingtheimpactofarealprecipitationinputonstreamflowsimulationsusingtheswatmodel
AT smakhtinvladimiru assessingtheimpactofarealprecipitationinputonstreamflowsimulationsusingtheswatmodel