Abstract
This study developed a web-based open-source framework based on the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), named WOF-SWAT (web-based open-source framework for SWAT), to investigate individual and combined impacts of climate change, land use change, and point-source pollutants on watershed-scale hydrological and chemical processes. The architecture, workflows, interfaces, and key processes of WOF-SWAT are described and discussed. Using a previously developed well-calibrated hydrological model of the Jinjiang River basin, four scenarios were simulated in WOF-SWAT and other traditional desktop-based tools (i.e., ArcSWAT and SWAT-CUP) to examine the credibility, efficiency, and functionality of WOF-SWAT. The results show that, in combination with a well-calibrated watershed model, WOF-SWAT is sufficiently sound and reasonable to investigate individual and combined impacts of climate change, land use change, and point-source pollutants. We thus conclude that WOF-SWAT can be used as a substitute for other tools to carry out similar tasks in a web-based environment while providing more user-friendly interfaces, accessibility, and efficiency. We also discuss ongoing and possible future efforts to develop WOF-SWAT into a fully-fledged watershed research and management framework.
Highlights
Understanding hydrological systems at the scale of large watersheds and river basins is critically important to society when faced with concerns about the availability and quality of water resources or with extreme weather events
When ArcSWAT is used to simulate the third scenario, 100 sub-basins and 889 hydrologic response units (HRUs) were generated with the same delineation configurations of the original watershed model (99 sub-basins and 886 HRUs)
This is due to the fact that a sub-basin is split into two sub-basins by the point-source pollutant in the fourth scenario when the watershed delineation is conducted with ArcSWAT
Summary
Understanding hydrological systems at the scale of large watersheds and river basins is critically important to society when faced with concerns about the availability and quality of water resources or with extreme weather events (e.g., flood or drought). In an attempt to answer the numerous important questions posed by the hydrological community, a large number hydrological models have been devised to simulate the hydrological cycle, investigate cause–effect relationships at various spatial and temporal scales, and help in decision-making to find solutions for better watershed protection and management [1,2,3,4]. Most of these hydrological models were originally developed as research tools and usually involve complex structures and interfaces and sophisticated operative procedures. Applications of these models may require tremendous efforts
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