SWAT Literature Database for Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

Title:Investigation into the impacts of land-use change on runoff generation characteristics in the Upper Huaihe River Basin, China 
Authors:Li, Q., T. Cai, M. Yu, G. Lu, W. Xie and X. Bai 
Year:2013 
Journal:Journal of Hydrologic Engineering 
Volume (Issue):18(11) 
Pages:1464–1470 
Article ID: 
DOI:10.1061/(ASCE)HE.1943-5584.0000489 
URL (non-DOI journals): 
Model:SWAT 
Broad Application Category:hydrologic only 
Primary Application Category:land use change assessment 
Secondary Application Category:hydrologic assessment 
Watershed Description:10,190 km^2 Upper Huaihe River, located in northeastern China. 
Calibration Summary: 
Validation Summary: 
General Comments: 
Abstract:Land-use change has significant impacts on hydrologic processes at the watershed level, thus, quantitative assessment on the impacts of land-use change is vital for basin environment protection and water resources sustainable development. Owing largely to computer and GIS technology improvements, the distributed hydrological models, which allow describing the temporal variability and spatial distribution of water balance components, offer an effective approach to quantify the land-use change effects on watershed water quantity. In this study, Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model was used to simulate land-use change effects on water quantity in the upper Huaihe river basin above the Xixian hydrological controlling station with a catchment area of 10,190 km^2 by the use of three-phase (1980s, 1990s, 2000s) land-use maps, soil type map (1:200000), 1980 to 2008 daily time series of rainfall from the upper Huaihe river basin. Within the model, potential evapotranspiration was computed by Penman-Monteith method coupling with EPIC model (simplified plant growth model). On the basis of the simulated time series of daily runoff, land-use change effects on spatio-temporal change patterns of runoff coefficients and runoff modules, and rainfall-runoff relationship, the sensitivity of rainfall-runoff relationship to rainfall for different types of land use, and impact of land-use patterns on rainfall-runoff relationships were investigated. The results revealed that under the same condition of soil texture and terrain slope the advantage for runoff generation and the sensitivity of rainfall-runoff relationship to rainfall descended by farmland, paddy field, woodland. With the same rainfall, the advantage for runoff generation ascended by 1990’s, 2000’s and 1980’s land-use patterns. The outputs could provide important references for soil and water conservation and river health protection in the upper stream of Huaihe river. 
Language:English 
Keywords:upper stream of Huaihe River; SWAT model; land-use change; runoff generation characteristics