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Title: INITIAL APPLICATION OF SWAT TO TURFGRASS SYSTEMS

Author
item King, Kevin
item BALOGH, J - SPECTRUM RESEARCH INC
item Harmel, Daren
item Torbert, Henry - Allen
item Arnold, Jeffrey

Submitted to: American Society of Agricultural Engineers Meetings Papers
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/9/1999
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: King, K.W., Balogh, J.C., Harmel, R.D, Torbert, H.A, Arnold, J.G. Initial application of SWAT to turfgrass systems. Proceedings of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers. 1999. Paper No. 99-2241.

Interpretive Summary: Turfgrass systems currently occupy 3150 square miles of land in the U.S. This land is generally managed at a higher level than agricultural lands. Yet, the environmental impact of that management has not been well established. One year's worth of data from a turfgrass system was collected for computer model validation efforts. If the computer model can be validated then data collection can be reduced. The model indicated deficiencies in hydrologic estimates on turfgrass systems. These limitations will now be the focus of future research in modeling turfgrass systems.

Technical Abstract: Turfgrass systems are one of the most intensively managed land uses in the U.S. The number of turfgrass systems in the U.S. currently exceeds 16000 and is projected to increase by 300 to 400 per year to meet consumer demand. Development of turfgrass systems usually results in a more intensively managed land use. The impact of that management on water quality and quantity is of vital importance. SWAT is a comprehensive watershed scale model developed to predict management impacts on water, sediment, and chemical yields for ungaged watersheds. SWAT allows for subbasin division based on management, soils, etc. Approximately one year of data from a municipal course in Austin, TX was used to evaluate SWAT on whole turfgrass systems. Surface water volumes using the SWAT CN approach did not correlate well with measured values. Improvements and current modifications within SWAT could potentially improve the simulation capabilities for turfgrass environments.