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Suitability of the SWAT Model for Simulating Water Discharge and Sediment Load in a Karst Watershed of the Semiarid Mediterranean Basin

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Abstract

This paper presents a case study conducted in the Upper Argos River, in southeast Spain, to verify the applicability of the SWAT model for prediction of the water discharge and sediment load in a Mediterranean semiarid karst basin. For this purpose, the monthly and yearly discharge and sediment load records at the Argos reservoir gauge during the period 1976–2000 were used to calibrate the model, while data from 2001 to 2017 were used for validation. For both stages of the modeling the performance of the NSE, RSR, and PBIAS indices was good in the case of the monthly flow rate (NSE = 0.62 and 0.70 for calibration and validation, respectively; RSR = 0.61 and 0.54; PBIAS = −20.60% and − 16.09%) and acceptable for the estimation of the monthly sediment load (NSE = 0.52 and 0.58; RSR = 0.70 and 0.64; PBIAS = 10.65% and 15.20%). These indices showed a substantial improvement in the annual simulations, particularly in the calibration, for which the respective values of NSE and RSR were 0.89 and 0.32 for the flow rate and 0.81 and 0.42 for the sediment transport.

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Acknowledgments

This work has been financed by ERDF/ Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities - State Research Agency / Project CGL2017-84625-C2-1-R (CCAMICEM); State Program for Research, Development and Innovation focused on the Challenges of Society. We also extend our thanks to the Center for Public Works Studies and Experimentation (CEDEX), Ministry for Development, Spain, for providing flow and sediment load data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Group on Erosion and Desertification in Mediterranean Environments, University of Murcia, Campus de La Merced, 30001, Murcia, Spain

    Alberto Martínez-Salvador

  2. Department of Physical Geography, University of Murcia, Campus de La Merced, 30001, Murcia, Spain

    Carmelo Conesa-García

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  1. Alberto Martínez-Salvador
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  2. Carmelo Conesa-García
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Correspondence to Carmelo Conesa-García.

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Martínez-Salvador, A., Conesa-García, C. Suitability of the SWAT Model for Simulating Water Discharge and Sediment Load in a Karst Watershed of the Semiarid Mediterranean Basin. Water Resour Manage 34, 785–802 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-019-02477-4

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