Skip to main content

Advertisement

Springer Nature Link
Log in

Towards the use of conceptual models for water resource assessment in Indian tropical watersheds under monsoon-driven climatic conditions

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Environmental Earth Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Water resource assessment is important for integrated water resources management of a basin to which rainfall is a vital component. Generally, semi-distributed to distributed models are used for water resource management studies. Higher data requirement and simulation time restrict the use of these models. Lumped conceptual models are drawing attention these days owing to their simplicity and minimum data requirement. In the present study, the performance of conceptual models Génie Rural à 4 paramètres Journalie (GR4J) and Australian Water Balance Model (AWBM) was evaluated in comparison with semi-distributed Soil and Water Analysis Tool (SWAT) model. The selected study area, Upper Godavari River Basin, is in the windward side of Western Ghats in India, which receives heavy rainfall during south-west monsoon season. However, this region faces water scarcity issues in non-monsoon period due to lack of proper water management scenarios. Five catchments in upper Godavari basin are used for the analysis. Spatiotemporal analysis of rainfall is done to understand its effect on streamflow at the catchment outlet. The efficacy of model predictions has been analysed statistically in terms of Nash–Sutcliffe Efficiency, coefficient of determination (R2) and percentage bias. Flow duration curves and time series diagram of streamflow predictions are also compared to better understand the results. All three models predicted streamflow with reasonable accuracy. Considering structural simplicity, less data requirement and simplicity in calibration process, this study proposes conceptual models over SWAT in the regions facing data scarcity.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9

Similar content being viewed by others

Explore related subjects

Discover the latest articles and news from researchers in related subjects, suggested using machine learning.

References

  • Abbaspour KC (2007) User manual for SWAT-CUP, SWAT calibration and uncertainty analysis programs. Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Eawag

    Google Scholar 

  • Arnold JG, Srinivasan R, Muttiah RS, Williams JR (1998) Large area hydrologic modeling and assessment part I: model development. J Am Water Resour Assoc 34(1):73–89

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beven KJ (2001) Rainfall-runoff modelling. The primer. Wiley, New York, p 360

    Google Scholar 

  • Bisht DS, Chatterjee C, Raghuwanshi NS, Sridhar V (2018) Spatio-temporal trends of rainfall across Indian river basins. Theor Appl Climatol 132(1–2):419–436

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boughton W (2004) The Australian water balance model. Environ Model Softw 19(10):943–956

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boughton W, Chiew F (2007) Estimating runoff in ungauged catchments from rainfall, PET and the AWBM model. Environ Model Softw 22(4):476–487. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2006.01.009

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burnash RJE, Ferral RL, McQuire RA (1973) A generalized streamflow simulation system. Joint fed. State River Forecast Cent, Sacramento

    Google Scholar 

  • Cameron D, Beven KJ, Tawn J, Blazkova S, Naden P (1999) Flood frequency estimation by continuous simulation for a gauged upland catchment (with uncertainty). J Hydrol 219:169–187

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carr R, Podger G (2012) eWater Source-Australia’s next generation IWRM modelling platform. In: Hydrology and water resources symposium 2012. Engineers Australia, p 742

  • Croke BFW, Andrews F, Jakeman AJ, Cuddy SM, Luddy A (2006) IHACRES classic plus: a redesign of the IHACRES rainfall-runoff model. Environ Model Softw 21(3):426–427. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2005.07.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duan QY, Gupta VK, Sorooshian S (1993) Shuffled complex evolution approach for effective and efficient global minimization. J Optim Theory Appl 76(3):501–521

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edijatno Nascimento NO, Yang X, Makhlouf Z, Michel C (1999) GR3J: a daily watershed model with three free parameters. Hydrol Sci J 44(2):263–277

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garg V, Aggarwal SP, Gupta PK, Nikam BR, Thakur PK, Srivastav SK, Kumar AS (2017) Assessment of land use land cover change impact on hydrological regime of a basin. Environ Earth Sci 76(18):635

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hasan MA, Pradhanang SM (2017) Estimation of flow regime for a spatially varied Himalayan watershed using improved multi-site calibration of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model. Environ Earth Sci 76(23):787

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hengade N, Eldho TI, Subimal G (2017) Hydrological simulation of a large catchment using the variable infiltration capacity model. In: Development of water resources in India. Springer, Berlin, pp 19–30

  • Himanshu SK, Pandey A, Shrestha P (2017) Application of SWAT in an Indian river basin for modeling runoff, sediment and water balance. Environ Earth Sci 76(1):3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hublart P, Ruelland D, De Cortázar Garcĺa, Atauri I, Ibacache A (2015) Reliability of a conceptual hydrological model in a semi-arid Andean catchment facing water-use changes. IAHS-AISH Proc Rep 371(June):203–209. https://doi.org/10.5194/piahs-371-203-2015

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jayakrishnan RS, Srinivasan R, Santhi C, Arnold JG (2005) Advances in the application of the SWAT model for water resources management. Hydrol Process 19(3):749–762

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kannan N, Jeong J (2011) An approach for estimating stream health using flow duration curves and indices of hydrologic alteration. EPA region, 6

  • Khoi DN, Hang PTT (2015) Uncertainty assessment of climate change impacts on hydrology: a case study for the Central Highlands of Vietnam. Managing water resources under climate uncertainty. Springer, Cham, pp 31–44

    Google Scholar 

  • Kumar A, Singh R, Jena PP, Chatterjee C, Mishra A (2015) Identification of the best multi-model combination for simulating river discharge. J Hydrol 525:313–325

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ladejinsky W (1973) Drought in Maharashtra (not in a hundred years). Econ Polit Wkly 17:383–396

    Google Scholar 

  • Liang X, Lettenmaier DP, Wood EF, Burges SJ (1994) A simple hydrologically based model of land surface water and energy fluxes for general circulation models. J Geophys Res Atmos 99(D7):14415–14428

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Madhusoodhanan CG, Sreeja KG, Eldho TI (2017) Assessment of uncertainties in global land cover products for hydro-climate modeling in India. Water Resour Res 53:1713–1734. https://doi.org/10.1002/2016WR020193

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mishra A, Froebrich J, Gassman PW (2007) Evaluation of the SWAT model for assessing sediment control structures in a small watershed in India. Trans ASABE 50(2):469–477

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Monteith JL (1965) Evaporation and environment. Symp Soc Exp Biol 19(205–23):4

    Google Scholar 

  • Nair A, Joseph KA, Nair KS (2014) Spatio-temporal analysis of rainfall trends over a maritime state (Kerala) of India during the last 100 years. Atmos Environ 8:123–132

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Narsimlu B, Gosain AK, Chahar BR (2013) Assessment of future climate change impacts on water resources of upper Sind river basin, India using SWAT model. Water Resour Manag 27(10):3647–3662

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nash JE, Sutcliffe JV (1970) River flow forecasting through conceptual models part I—a discussion of principles. J Hydrol 10:282–290

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nepal S, Zheng H, Penton DJ, Neumann LE (2015) Comparative performance of GR4JSG and J2000 hydrological models in the Dudh Koshi catchment of the Himalayan region. MODSIM2015. MSSANZ 2395-2401

  • Oughton E (1982) The Maharashtra droughts of 1970–73: an analysis of scarcity. Oxford Bull Econ Stat 44(3):169–197

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parthasarathy B, Kumar KR, Munot AA (1993) Homogeneous Indian monsoon rainfall: variability and prediction. Proc Indian Acad Sci Earth Planet Sci 102(1):121–155

    Google Scholar 

  • Pechlivanidis I, Jackson B, Mcintyre N (2011) Wheater H (2011) Catchment scale hydrological modelling: a review of model types, calibration approaches and uncertainty analysis methods in the context of recent developments in technology and applications. Glob NEST J 13(3):193–214

    Google Scholar 

  • Perrin C, Michel C, Andréassian V (2003) Improvement of a parsimonious model for streamflow simulation. J Hydrol 279(1–4):275–289

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Redpath K, Daamen C (2018) Upper Godavari Sub-Basin Baseline Water Balance Model. Technical report, eWater. Interim version, 4

  • Sinha RK, Eldho TI (2018) Effects of historical and projected land use/cover change on runoff and sediment yield in the Netravati river basin, Western Ghats, India. Environ Earth Sci 77(3):111

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sorooshian S, Duan Q, Gupta VK (1993) Calibration of rainfall-runoff models: application of global optimization to the Sacramento soil moisture accounting model. Water Resour Res 29(4):1185–1194

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Subramanya K (2013) Engineering hydrology, vol 4e. Tata McGraw-Hill Education, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Tegegne G, Park DK, Kim YO (2017) Comparison of hydrological models for the assessment of water resources in a data-scarce region, the Upper Blue Nile River Basin. J Hydrol Reg Stud 14:49–66

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tian Y, Xu YP, Zhang XJ (2013) Assessment of climate change impacts on river high flows through comparative use of GR4J, HBV and Xinanjiang models. Water Resour Manag 27(8):2871–2888

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Traore VB, Sambou S, Tamba S, Diaw AT, Cisse MT, Fall S (2014) Calibrating the rainfall-runoff model GR4J and GR2M on the Koulountou river basin, a tributary of the Gambia river. Am J Environ Prot 3(1):36–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Udmale PD, Ichikawa Y, Kiem AS, Panda SN (2014a) Drought impacts and adaptation strategies for agriculture and rural livelihood in the Maharashtra State of India. Open Agric J 8(1):41–47

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Udmale PD, Ichikawa Y, Manandhar S, Ishidaira H, Kiem AS (2014b) Farmers’ perception of drought impacts, local adaptation and administrative mitigation measures in Maharashtra State, India. Int J Disaster Risk Reduct 10:250–269

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • USDA Soil Conservation Service (1972) National Engineering Handbook, Section 4, Hydrology. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., p 544

    Google Scholar 

  • Vaze J, Chiew FH, Perraud JM, Viney N, Post D, Teng J, Wang B, Lerat J, Goswami M (2011) Rainfall-runoff modelling across southeast Australia: datasets, models and results. Australas J Water Resour 14(2):101–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wagner PD, Kumar S, Fiene P, Schneider K (2011) Hydrological modeling with SWAT in a monsoon-driven environment: experience from the Western Ghats, India. Trans ASABE 54(5):1783–1790

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wagner PD, Kumar S, Schneider K (2013) An assessment of land use change impacts on the water resources of the Mula and Mutha Rivers catchment upstream of Pune, India. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 17(6):2233–2246

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang X, Parent E, Michel C, Roche P-A (1995) Comparison of real-time reservoir-operation techniques. J Water Res Plan Manag 121:345–351

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yu B, Zhu Z (2015) A comparative assessment of AWBM and SimHyd for forested watersheds. Hydrol Sci J 60(7–8):1200–1212

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zamani R, Mirabbasi R, Nazeri M, Meshram SG, Ahmadi F (2018) Spatio-temporal analysis of daily, seasonal and annual precipitation concentration in Jharkhand State, India. Stoch Environ Res Risk Assess 32(4):1085–1097

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors of the paper thank Godavari Marathwada Irrigation Development Corporation (GMIDC), Aurangabad, Water And Land Management Institute (WALMI), Aurangabad and eWater, Australia for providing necessary data for this study. The authors are thankful for the valuable suggestions of the reviewers which helped us to improve the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay), Powai, Mumbai, 400076, India

    Aatish Anshuman, Aiswarya Kunnath-Poovakka & T. I. Eldho

Authors
  1. Aatish Anshuman
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Aiswarya Kunnath-Poovakka
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  3. T. I. Eldho
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to T. I. Eldho.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Anshuman, A., Kunnath-Poovakka, A. & Eldho, T.I. Towards the use of conceptual models for water resource assessment in Indian tropical watersheds under monsoon-driven climatic conditions. Environ Earth Sci 78, 282 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-019-8281-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-019-8281-5

Keywords

Profiles

  1. Aatish Anshuman View author profile