| Title: | Simulating establishment periods of switchgrass and miscanthus in the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) |
| Authors: | Feng, Q., I. Chaubey, R. Cibin, B. Engel, K.P. Sudheer and J. Volenec |
| Year: | 2017 |
| Journal: | Transactions of the ASABE |
| Volume (Issue): | 60(5) |
| Pages: | 1621-1632 |
| Article ID: | |
| DOI: | 10.13031/trans.12227 |
| URL (non-DOI journals): | |
| Model: | SWAT (modified) |
| Broad Application Category: | hydrologic and pollutant |
| Primary Application Category: | crop, forest and/or vegetation growth/yield and/or parameters |
| Secondary Application Category: | bioenergy crop, tree and/or vegetation assessment |
| Watershed Description: | Multiple field sites located in the U.S. and Europe. |
| Calibration Summary: | |
| Validation Summary: | |
| General Comments: | See Tables 1-3 in the article for a listing of the sites mentioned in the watershed description. |
| Abstract: | The establishment periods of switchgrass and Miscanthus can be a time window when evapotranspiration,
surface runoff generation, and sediment and nutrients losses are quite different from when the grasses become fully established,
and this period may result in environmental concerns for large-scale biomass production. The current SWAT model
does not simulate the establishment periods of perennial grasses. In this study, we modified the model to simulate these
periods by updating the maximum annual leaf area index (LAI) instead of using a static value in the unmodified model. The
improved SWAT model provided more realistic simulations of LAI values and yields comparable to observed yields from
field plots during the establishment periods of the two perennial grasses. The modification made in the present study enabled
the SWAT model to be more suitable for evaluating perennial biomass grass-related scenarios. |
| Language: | English |
| Keywords: | Biomass bioenergy, Establishment period, Miscanthus, SWAT, Switchgrass. |