| Title: | Runoff simulation by SWAT Model using high-resolution gridded precipitation in the Upper Heihe River Basin, northeastern Tibetan Plateau |
| Authors: | Ruan, H., S. Zou, D. Yang, Y. Wang, Z. Yin, Z. Lu, F. Li and B. Xu |
| Year: | 2017 |
| Journal: | Water |
| Volume (Issue): | 9(11) |
| Pages: | |
| Article ID: | 866 |
| DOI: | 10.3390/w9110866 |
| URL (non-DOI journals): | |
| Model: | SWAT |
| Broad Application Category: | hydrologic only |
| Primary Application Category: | climate data effects |
| Secondary Application Category: | hydrologic assessment |
| Watershed Description: | 10,009 km^2 Upper Heihe River, located in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau region in western China. |
| Calibration Summary: | |
| Validation Summary: | |
| General Comments: | |
| Abstract: | The scarcity and uneven distribution of precipitation stations in the inland river basins of
the Northeastern Tibetan Plateau restrict the application of the distributed hydrological model and
spatial analysis of water balance component characteristics. This study used the upper Heihe River
Basin as a case study, and daily gridded precipitation data with 3 km resolution based on the spatial
interpolation of gauged stations and a regional climate model were used to construct a soil and water
assessment tool (SWAT) model. The aim was to validate the precision of high-resolution gridded
precipitation for hydrological simulation in data-scarce regions; a scale transformation method was
proposed by building virtual stations and calculating the lapse rate to overcome the defects of the
SWAT model using traditional precipitation station data. The gridded precipitation was upscaled from
the grid to the sub-basin scale to accurately represent sub-basin precipitation input data. A satisfactory
runoff simulation was achieved, and the spatial variability of water balance components was
analysed. Results show that the precipitation lapse rate ranges from 40 mm/km to 235 mm/km and
decreases from the southeastern to the northwestern areas. The SWAT model achieves monthly runoff
simulation compared with gauged runoff from 2000 to 2014; the determination coefficients are higher
than 0.71, the Nash–Sutcliffe efficiencies are higher than 0.76, and the percentage bias is controlled
within 15%. Meadow and sparse vegetation are the major water yield landscapes, and the elevation
band from 3500 m to 4500 m is the major water yield area. Precipitation and evapotranspiration
present a slightly increasing trend, whereas water yield and soil water content present a slightly
decreasing trend. This finding indicates that the high-resolution gridded precipitation data fully
depict its spatial heterogeneity, and scale transformation significantly promotes the application of
the distributed hydrological model in inland river basins. The spatial variability of water balance
components can be quantified to provide references for the integrated assessment and management
of basin water resources in data-scarce regions. |
| Language: | English |
| Keywords: | Heihe River Basin; SWAT model; gridded precipitation; water balance components;
runoff simulation |