Comparison of SWAT and GSSHA for High Time Resolution Prediction of Stream Flow and Sediment Concentration in a Small Agricultural Watershed

Abstract

Abstract:In this study, two hydrologic models, the Gridded Surface Subsurface Hydrologic Analysis (GSSHA) and the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), were applied to predict stream flow and suspended sediment concentration (SSC) in a small agricultural watershed in Ishigaki Island, Japan, in which the typical time scale of flood event was several hours. The performances of these two models were compared in order to select the right model for the study watershed. Both models were calibrated and validated against hourly stream flow and SSC for half-month periods of 15 to 31 May 2011 and 17 March to 7 April 2013, respectively. The results showed that both models successfully estimated hourly stream flow and SSC in a satisfactory way. For the short-term simulations, the GSSHA model performed slightly better in simulating stream flow as compared to SWAT during both calibration and validation periods. GSSHA only gave better accuracy when predicting SSC during calibration, while SWAT performed slightly better during validation. For long-term simulations, both models yielded comparable results for long-term stream flow and SSC with acceptable agreement. However, SWAT predicted the overall variation of long-term SSC better than GSSHA.

A General Overview of the Risk-Reduction Strategies for Floods and Droughts

“…Most well-known models, such as HEC-RAS, CCHE2D, MIKE21, and SOBEK, are designed to provide more details regarding fluid motion, such as flow velocities in the longitudinal and transverse directions (e.g., [59][60][61]). Some studies considered lumped and distributed hydrological models, such as SWAT, AnnAGNPS, WEPP, or APEX, to provide peak flow at watershed scale [62][63][64]. The usefulness of lumped hydrological models for forecasting may be limited by their coarse resolution, the need for long-term historical data for calibration, and an inapplicability to poorly gauged catchments [14].…”

Evaluating the Performance of HEC-HMS and SWAT Hydrological Models in Simulating the Rainfall-Runoff Process for Data Scarce Region of Ethiopian Rift Valley Lake Basin

“…Modeling of hydrological processes, like rainfall runoff, infiltration, evapotrans- piration and groundwater discharge are the most essential tasks to manage the water resources of the basin [1] [2] [3]. To do so, many computer based models have been developed to simulate the hydrologic processes and the hydrologic effects of different watershed management issues [4] [5]. Today, the watershed models are used to implement an alternative management strategy in the areas of water resources allocation, reservoir siltation, flood control, land use land cove changes and climate change impact assessments [6].…”

“…Such selection is highly challengeable for developing country due to shortage of studies that tested the applicability of the models. Recently, the most commonly used hydrological models are Hydrological Engineering Centre-Hydrologic Modeling System (HEC-HMS), Hydrological Simulation Program-Fortran (HSPF), Agricultural Non-Point Source (AGNPS), Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), and MIKE SHE [3] [5]. These models are developed for a specific area with the help of statistical observations based on parameters detected in the field [9].…”

Assessment of the SWAT Model and the Parameters Affecting the Flow Simulation in the Watershed of Oued Laou (Northern Morocco)

“…For example, the SWAT model has been more efficient than other models. [Wang et al, 2016] [Sith and Nadaoka, 2017] [Polanco, Fleifle, Ludwig and Disse, 2017]. SWAT is a well-developed tool for analysing the effects of water resource practices in the most challenging watersheds.…”