Simulating hydrological responses using high resolution satellite inputs for a forest dominated hilly catchment of Uttarakhand Himalayas

Abstract

Water scarcity in hilly region has been increasing due to unprecedented population growth, rapid urbanization, industrialization, and various anthropogenic activities. Hence, there is urgent need of accurate estimation of streamflow at river basin scale. Regardless, many hydrological models exist in hydrology, but their capability over hilly river basin is found to be poor, often because of lack of good-quality data over the region. The study undertaken presents an evaluation of widely accepted Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT-2012) model for simulating stream flow in a forest dominated catchment of Kumaon region of Himalayas. SUFI-2 algorithm was used for performing calibration and validation analyses. The model is applied for a duration of 15 years (2000–2013) with 2 years (1998–1999) as warm-up period, 2000–2010 as calibration, and 2011–2013 for validation. During the calibration period of 11 years (2000–2010), the model showed coefficient of determination (R2) and Nash–Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE) values of 0.72 and 0.7, respectively. Similarly, over the 3 years (2011–2013) during validation, the value of R2 and NSE were 0.7 and 0.67, respectively. Sensitivity analysis for 12 input parameters which affect streamflow was carried out, and ranking was done on p value leading to the most important parameter affecting the streamflow. This study may be utilized as a decision-making tool by water managers to influence strategies in the management of watershed processes.