Comparing Sediment Yield Predictions from Different Hydrologic Modeling Schemes

Abstract:

Sediment yield, or the delivery of sediment from the landscape to a river, is a difficult process to accurately model. It is primarily a function of hydrology and climate, but influenced by landcover and the underlying soils. These additional factors make it much more difficult to accurately model than water flow alone. It is not intuitive what impact different hydrologic modeling schemes may have on the prediction of sediment yield. Here, two implementations of the Modified Universal Soil Loss Equation (MUSLE) are compared to examine the effects of hydrologic model choice. Both the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) and the Landscape Hydrology Model (LHM) utilize the MUSLE for calculating sediment yield. SWAT is a lumped parameter hydrologic model developed by the USDA, which is commonly used for predicting sediment yield. LHM is a fully distributed hydrologic model developed primarily for integrated surface and groundwater studies at the watershed to regional scale.

SWAT and LHM models were developed and tested for two large, adjacent watersheds in the Great Lakes region; the Maumee River and the St. Joseph River. The models were run using a variety of single model and ensemble downscaled climate change scenarios from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 5 (CMIP5). The initial results of this comparison are discussed here.