The Application of Improved SWAT Model to Hydrological Cycle Study in Karst Area of South China

Yufeng Wang, Jingli Shao, Chuntian Su, Yali Cui and Qiulan Zhang
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Yufeng Wang: School of Water Resources and Environment, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing 100083, China
Jingli Shao: School of Water Resources and Environment, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing 100083, China
Chuntian Su: Institute of Karst Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Guilin 541000, China
Yali Cui: School of Water Resources and Environment, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing 100083, China
Qiulan Zhang: School of Water Resources and Environment, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing 100083, China

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 18, 1-15

Abstract: In the karst area of southern China, karst water is important for supporting the sustainable production and home living for the local residents. Consequently, it is of significance to fully understand the water cycle, so as to make full use of water resources. In karst areas, epikarst and conduits are developed, participating in the hydrological cycle actively. For conventional lumped hydrologic models, it is difficult to simulate the hydrological cycle accurately. These models neglect to consider the variation of underlying surface and weather change. Meanwhile, for the original distributed hydrological model, the existence of epikarst and underground conduits as well as inadequate data information also make it difficult to achieve accurate simulation. To this end, the framework combining the advantages of lumped model–reservoir model and distributed hydrologic model–Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model is established to simulate the water cycle efficiently in a karst area. Xianghualing karst watershed in southern China was selected as the study area and the improved SWAT model was used to simulate the water cycle. Results show that the indicators of E NS and R 2 in the calibration and verification periods are both above 0.8, which is evidently improved in comparison with the original model. The improved SWAT model is verified to have better efficiency in describing the hydrological cycle in a typical karst area.

Keywords: karst area; lumped hydrological model; distributed hydrological model; improved SWAT model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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