Setting up ArcSWAT hydrological model for the Verlorenvlei catchment
Date
2009-03
Authors
Lewarne, Mireille
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch
Abstract
Agricultural production has become vital to the Sandveld, of which Verlorenvlei is a part, in terms
of both economic growth and food security. It is well documented as an area under threat of severe
natural resource depletion if it is not well managed with sustainability in mind. Agricultural
production, other human-driven development and the survival of the local ecosystems compete for
the limited water resources.
This study uses the SWAT hydrological model to simulate the transport of water through the
catchment area. ArcSWAT, a third-party software extension to ArcGIS, is used as an interface
between ArcGIS and the SWAT model. Spatial data (DEM, soil and landuse) is used in the preprocessing
phase and fed into the SWAT model through the interface.
Daily climate data were sourced and prepared according to the SWAT model’s input requirements.
Considerable effort was required to fill temporal and spatial gaps in available climate data, and to
infer certain unmeasured climate variables from other measurements (e.g. infer solar radiation from
daylight hours, time of the year and latitude).
The SWAT hydrological model was then run. The model results compared favourably to measured
flow data. The study recommends building on from this first step using the SWAT hydrological
model to simulate future land use scenarios for the catchment area.
Description
Thesis (MA (Geography and Environmental Studies))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009.
Keywords
ArcSWAT, Dissertations -- Geography and environmental studies, Theses -- Geography and environmental studies