Analysis on Effect of Spatial Distribution of Rainfall on Runoff Modeling in Xixi Watershed of Jinjiang Basin

Abstract

The effect of spatial distribution of rainfall is considered to be main uncertain factor for hydrologic simulation. Based on calibration and validation of the SWAT model, using the 15 rainfall stations data ，analyzed the effect of spatial distribution of rainfall on runoff modeling in Xixi Watershed of Jinjiang basin. The results show that the difference of the rainfall spatial distribution is very obvious by calculating standard deviation. The effect of the difference of rainfall spatial distribution to simulation results is significant by comparing runoff simulation of different years in which the average of all rainfall stations precipitation was similar. The uncertain spatial distribution of rainfall must be considered in the hydrological simulation.

Sensitivity analysis of a GIS-based model: A case study of a large semi-arid catchment

“…Among the foregoing models, the SWAT model was chosen for this study, because it has gained international recognition as is evidenced by a large number of applications and has shown the success of hydrologic simulation with scarce data, and because it is especially applicable for large complex watersheds (Neitsch et al 2002). However, SWAT model presented also some limitations inherent in distributed hydrological models, as its sensitivity to the DEM resolution (Chaplot 2005;Chaubey et al 2005;Lin et al 2010), to subbasin size (Jha et al 2004;Arabi et al 2006;Mosbahi et al 2009;Gong et al 2010), to spatial distribution of rainfall Cho et al 2009;Gao et al 2012) and to input parameters (Spruill et al 2000;Francos et al 2003;Van Griensven et al 2006;Chahinian et al 2011;Fiseha et al 2013;Sellami et al 2013;Aouissi et al 2014).…”