SWAT Literature Database for Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

Title:Application of SWAT using snow data and detecting climate change impacts in the mountainous eastern regions of Turkey 
Authors:Peker, I.B. and A.A. Sorman 
Year:2021 
Journal:Water 
Volume (Issue):13(14) 
Pages: 
Article ID:1982 
DOI:10.3390/w13141982 
URL (non-DOI journals): 
Model:SWAT 
Broad Application Category:hydrologic only 
Primary Application Category:climate change assessment 
Secondary Application Category:snowmelt, frozen soil and/or glacier melt processes 
Watershed Description:5,900 km^2 Murat and 2,890 km^2 Karasu Rivers, which are headwater streams for the Euphrates River that are located in eastern Turkey. 
Calibration Summary: 
Validation Summary: 
General Comments: 
Abstract:In recent years, the potential impacts of climate change on water resources and the hydrologic cycle have gained importance especially for snow-dominated mountainous basins. Within this scope, the Euphrates-Tigris Basin, a snow-fed transboundary river with several large dams, was selected to investigate the effects of changing climate on seasonal snow and runoff. In this study, two headwater basins of the Euphrates River, ranging in elevation between 1500–3500 m, were assigned and SWAT was employed as a hydrological modeling tool. Model calibration and validation were conducted in a stepwise manner for snow and runoff consecutively. For the snow routine, model parameters were adjusted using MODIS daily snow-covered area, achieving hit rates of more than 95% between MODIS and SWAT. Other model parameters were calibrated successively and later validated according to daily runoff, reaching a Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency of 0.64–0.82 in both basins. After the modeling stage, the focus was drawn to the impacts of climate change under two different climate scenarios (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) in two 30-year projection periods (2041–2070 and 2071–2099). From the results, it is estimated that on average snow water equivalent decreases in the order of 30–39% and snow-covered days shorten by 37–43 days for the two basins until 2099. In terms of runoff, a slight reduction of at most 5% on average volume is projected but more notably, runoff center-time is expected to shift 1–2 weeks earlier by the end of the century. 
Language:English 
Keywords:SWAT; snow; climate change; Turkey