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Applicability of modified SWAT model (SWAT-Twn) on simulation of watershed sediment yields under different land use/cover scenarios in Taiwan

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Abstract

Climate change leads to increasing intensity and frequency of extreme rainfalls, especially in Taiwan with steep slopes and rapid currents. Heavy rainfalls trigger serious erosion and landslides on hillslopes, which increase sand concentration in rivers, and thus affect the water quality of reservoirs and the ecohydrological functions of rivers. We take the Zhuoshui River basin as an example and applied the modified Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model, SWAT-Twn, to simulate sediment in the basin. In SWAT-Twn, estimation of sediment yield is carried out by integrating the Taiwan Universal Soil Loss Equation (TUSLE) and the landslide simulation. Results of daily streamflow simulation showed that the model performances were above the satisfactory level, while simulations of daily sediment loads showed that the SWAT-Twn model performed better than the official SWAT (SWAT664), in terms of PBIAS of − 46.6 to 16.0% (SWAT-Twn) and − 1.2 to − 107.0% (SWAT664). Two scenarios of land use/cover, scenario 1 with fixed land use/cover and scenario 2 with updated land use/cover in each year, were applied to simulate annual sediment in the river basin for investigating the effects of landslide area variation on sediments. Results of sediment simulation under the two scenarios showed that although updating landslide area may facilitate sediment yield simulation at the subbasin level, the sediment transport equation, Bagnold equation, does not reflect the variation in sediment loads in the watershed. With further modifications, SWAT-Twn is expected to be an effective tool for simulating the impacts of landslide on sediment loads in the watersheds with rainfall-induced landslide.

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Availability of data and material

The data that support the findings of this study are available from Central Weather Bureau and National Land Surveying and Mapping Center, Taiwan, but restrictions apply to the availability of these data, which were used under license for the current study, and so are not publicly available.

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Funding

This research was funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan (109–2621-M-005 -001 -MY3).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Bioenvironmental Systems Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei City, Taiwan

    Li-Chi Chiang, Ci-Jyun Liao & Chih-Mei Lu

  2. Department of Soil and Water Conservation, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung City, Taiwan

    Yung-Chieh Wang

Authors
  1. Li-Chi Chiang
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  2. Ci-Jyun Liao
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  3. Chih-Mei Lu
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  4. Yung-Chieh Wang
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Contributions

Conceptualization: Li-Chi Chiang. Methodology and software: Ci-Jyun Liao. Validation: Li-Chi Chiang. Formal analysis: Ci-Jyun Liao, Chih-Mei Lu and Li-Chi Chiang. Artwork: Ci-Jyun Liao and Chih-Mei Lu. Writing—original draft preparation, Li-Chi Chiang, Yung-Chieh Wang, Ci-Jyun Liao and Chih-Mei Lu. Writing—review and editing, Yung-Chieh Wang and Li-Chi Chiang. Funding acquisition, Yung-Chieh Wang.

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Correspondence to Yung-Chieh Wang.

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Chiang, LC., Liao, CJ., Lu, CM. et al. Applicability of modified SWAT model (SWAT-Twn) on simulation of watershed sediment yields under different land use/cover scenarios in Taiwan. Environ Monit Assess 193, 520 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-021-09283-9

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