SWAT model application for sediment yield modeling and parameters analysis in Wadi K’sob (Northeast of Algeria)

Abstract

A comprehension of the erosion processes and sediment transport in the watershed is essential for the sustainable management of the water resources and soil fertility. In this study, the Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model was applied to demonstrate its ability to modeling the suspended sediment transport in the Wadi K’sob basin (Northeast of Algeria). The data used to set up the SWAT model are the Digital Elevation Model (DEM), land use, soil types and weather data. The calibration was carried out using daily sediment yield data corresponding to two (2) periods( 10/10/2006 to 06/17/2007 and 10/29/2012 to 10/22/2013) and validation was performed using two (2) other periods (06/18/2007 to 11/19/2007 and 10/23/2013 to 09/13/2014) of daily sediment yield. R-SWAT code was used for calibration process and sensitivity analysis. The performance of the SWAT model was evaluated by the Nash–Sutcliffe criterion (NSE) and coefficient of determination (R2). The results obtained after calibration oscillating between good and satisfactory where (NSE = 0.67 and R2 = 0.73) in the first calibration period and (NSE = 0.65 b and R2 = 0.67) in the second period. For validation, the performance of the SWAT model was very good (NSE = 0.78 and R2 = 0.79) in the first period while in the second period the prediction of the model was satisfactory (NSE = 0.52 and R2 = 0.54). In addition, the validation process revealed that some parameters are stable and related on watershed characteristics while other unstable parameters depend on soil properties especially soil permeability and soil erodibility.