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Click on “Download PDF” for the PDF version or on the title for the HTML version. If you are not an ASABE member or if your employer has not arranged for access to the full-text, Click here for options. Comparison of WEPP and SWAT For Watershed Hydrology and Erosion PredictionPublished by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, St. Joseph, Michigan www.asabe.org Citation: International Symposium on Erosion and Landscape Evolution (ISELE), 18-21 September 2011, Anchorage, Alaska 711P0311cd Paper #11087.(doi:10.13031/2013.39280)Authors: Jan Boll, Erin S Brooks, Zachary M Easton, Tammo S Steenhuis Keywords: Erosion, Hydrology modeling, WEPP, SWAT Prediction of hydrology and erosion at the hillslope and watershed scale are needed for placement of conservation practices as well as for understanding implications of land use change. Modeling approaches are continually being improved for such purposes. This study compares a modified version of WEPP with the SWAT model in Town Brook watershed in New York (Figure 1). Model comparison includes observations at the watershed outlet as well as major hydrological flow paths, and initial predictions of sediment yield at the watershed scale. Despite fundamentally different modeling approaches the agreement between observed and simulated streamflow was comparable using both WEPP and SWAT. SWAT simulated a flashy hydrograph that agreed better with observations than WEPP however sediment yield was over-predicted by SWAT. Simulated hydrographs by the WEPP model were poorest in the fall, which appears due to misrepresentation of transpiration changes in deciduous forests. Although stream channel erosion was not simulated by WEPP, sediment yield predictions from hillslopes suggest that the majority of sediment delivered at the outlet of the stream is derived from streambanks. Overall, WEPP appears to be better suited for hillslope applications whereas SWAT is more appropriate for large scale applications. Improvements in stream channel algorithms in WEPP are needed for further comparison of these models. (Download PDF) (Export to EndNotes)
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