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SWAT Setup with Long-Term Detailed Landuse and Management Records and Modification for a Micro-Watershed Influenced by Freeze-Thaw Cycles

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Abstract

In the widely used soil and water assessment tool (SWAT), the standard hydrological response units (HRUs) delineation method has low spatial resolution with respect to model inputs and outputs and renders difficulties in using long-term detailed landuse and management records. In addition, the modified universal soil loss equation (MUSLE) uses a constant K-factor which cannot address seasonal variation in soil erodibility caused by freeze-thaw cycles in cold regions. The current study presents a simple method to incorporate detailed landuse and management inputs in SWAT. The method delineates HRUs based on field boundaries and associates each HRU with a particular field. As a result, long-term detailed records can be incorporated into the SWAT management files. In addition, the existing MUSLE in SWAT was modified by introducing a variable K-factor to address effects of freeze-thaw cycles on soil erosion for cold regions. This modified version of SWAT was calibrated and validated for an agricultural micro-watershed, i.e., Black Brook Watershed in New Brunswick, Canada. The results showed that, compared with the standard HRU-delineation method, field-based HRU-delineation method was able to improve landuse and management practice input accuracy for SWAT and save time and effort for long-term simulation, and provide high resolution outputs in the watershed. As a result, the field-based HRU-delineation method can facilitate decision making not only at the subbasin scale but also at the field scale. In addition, results showed that sediment loading simulation accuracy was improved with the modified-MUSLE compared with the original-MUSLE.

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Acknowledgements

The funding support for this project was provided by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) through project #1145, entitled “Integrating selected BMPs to maximize environmental and economic benefits at the field and watershed scales for sustainable potato production in New Brunswick”, and Natural Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) through Discovery Grants to CPAB and FRM. The research is also partially supported byNASA (NNX17AE66G) and USDA (2017-67003-26485). Authors are thankful to S. Lavoie, J. Monteith, and L. Stevens for their technical support in data collection and sample analyses.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Management, University of New Brunswick, P.O. Box 44555, 28 Dineen Drive, Fredericton, NB, E3B 6C2, Canada

    Junyu Qi, Sheng Li, Zisheng Xing & Fan-Rui Meng

  2. Potato Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, P.O. Box 20280, 850 Lincoln Road, Fredericton, NB, E3B 4Z7, Canada

    Sheng Li & Zisheng Xing

  3. Guangxi Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Conservation, 100 Daxue Road, Nanning, Guangxi, 530005, China

    Qi Yang

  4. College of Forestry, Guangxi University, 100 Daxue Road, Nanning, Guangxi, 530005, China

    Qi Yang

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  1. Junyu Qi
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Correspondence to Fan-Rui Meng.

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Qi, J., Li, S., Yang, Q. et al. SWAT Setup with Long-Term Detailed Landuse and Management Records and Modification for a Micro-Watershed Influenced by Freeze-Thaw Cycles. Water Resour Manage 31, 3953–3974 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-017-1718-2

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