Comparison of Two Hydrological Models, HEC-HMS and SWAT in Runoff Estimation: Application to Huai Bang Sai Tropical Watershed, Thailand

Abstract

In the present study, the streamflow simulation capacities between the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) and the Hydrologic Engineering Centre-Hydrologic Modelling System (HEC-HMS) were compared for the Huai Bang Sai (HBS) watershed in northeastern Thailand. During calibration (2007–2010) and validation (2011–2014), the SWAT model demonstrated a Coefficient of Determination (R2) and a Nash Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE) of 0.83 and 0.82, and 0.78 and 0.77, respectively. During the same periods, the HEC-HMS model demonstrated values of 0.80 and 0.79, and 0.84 and 0.82. The exceedance probabilities at 10%, 40%, and 90% were 144.5, 14.5, and 0.9 mm in the flow duration curves (FDCs) obtained for observed flow. From the HEC-HMS and SWAT models, these indices yielded 109.0, 15.0, and 0.02 mm, and 123.5, 16.95, and 0.02 mm. These results inferred those high flows were captured well by the SWAT model, while medium flows were captured well by the HEC-HMS model. It is noteworthy that the low flows were accurately simulated by both models. Furthermore, dry and wet seasonal flows were simulated reasonably well by the SWAT model with slight under-predictions of 2.12% and 13.52% compared to the observed values. The HEC-HMS model under-predicted the dry and wet seasonal flows by 10.76% and 18.54% compared to observed flows. The results of the present study will provide valuable recommendations for the stakeholders of the HBS watershed to improve water usage policies. In addition, the present study will be helpful to select the most appropriate hydrologic model for humid tropical watersheds in Thailand and elsewhere in the world.

Comparison of the application of HBV and HEC-HMS hydrology models for accessing climate change in the upper Citarum Watershed, Indonesia

“…Other studies represent that the HEC HMS model is quite reliable for simulating the magnitude and timing of peak flows, both during flood events and in long-term simulations [6,[12][13][14][15][16]. The HEC-HMS model produced a plausible compatibility between observed and simulated discharges on daily and monthly time scales [9] Both HEC-HMS and HBV were adequate for simulating river flow in tropical catchments with high humidity and limited data [17]. The HBV model simulation by Masitoh and Dasanto (2018) in the Upper Citarum watershed has quite good performance [18].…”

“…The HEC-HMS model packages various methods used in hydrological analysis. Several studies on the use of the HEC-HMS model show that the model was able to simulated low and medium flows accurately [9][10][11]. Other studies represent that the HEC HMS model is quite reliable for simulating the magnitude and timing of peak flows, both during flood events and in long-term simulations [6,[12][13][14][15][16].…”

Assessment of Large River Basin Approaching GIS and Computation of Simulation Techniques Using Latest Software

“…Calibration is the process of adjusting the model parameters to improve the agreement between the simulated results and observed data. In the present research, the Wainganga river basin was calibrated ) [6] (4)…”

Assessing the Effects of Urbanization on Water Flow and Flood Events Using the HEC-HMS Model in the Wirynka River Catchment, Poland

“…Many researchers with both model and observational data for modeled catchments have shown that HEC-HMS modeling yields very high performance. An example is the study by Chathuranika et al [45], who observed high efficiency between modeled and actual data. Moreover, according to Dukić and Erić [46], HEC-HMS modeling is suitable for uncontrolled catch- Despite the lack of daily observation data (an uncontrolled catchment), it can be expected that the modeled values of flow may consistent with reality.…”