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ARS Home » Plains Area » Temple, Texas » Grassland Soil and Water Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #312716
Title: Hydrological modeling of upper Indus Basin and assessment of deltaic ecology

Author
item KHAN, A - Pakistan Council Of Scientific And Industrial Research (PCSIR)
item GHORABA, SHIMAA - Cairo University
item Arnold, Jeffrey
item DI LUZIO, MAURO - Texas Agrilife Research

Submitted to: International Journal of Modern Engineering
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/21/2013
Publication Date: 1/25/2014
Publication URL: http://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/60432
Citation: Khan, A.D., Ghoraba, S., Arnold, J.G., Di Luzio, M. 2014. Hydrological modeling of upper Indus Basin and assessment of deltaic ecology. International Journal of Modern Engineering Research. 4(1):73-85.

Interpretive Summary: Efficient water management is critical in semi-arid, irrigated regions to sustain crop production. The SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) model was applied to the Upper Indus River Basin to assess the impact of climate on river flow and crop production. Results showed that the SWAT model could accurately simulate stream flows and be a useful tool to support development of water management policies.

Technical Abstract: Managing water resources is mostly required at watershed scale where the complex hydrology processes and interactions linking land surface, climatic factors and human activities can be studied. Geographical Information System based watershed model; Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) is applied for study of hydrology of Upper Indus River Basin and assessment the impact of dry periods on environmental flow. The model is calibrated at two stations on Indus and Kabul Rivers. Climatic data of 22 weather stations falling in Pakistan, India, China and Afghanistan has been used for simulation period of 11 years (1994-2004). The model calibration for various water balance components yielded good agreement as indicated by coefficient of determination and Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency. The model output is for analysis of environmental flow in lower reaches and assessment of the Indus Delta ecohydrology. Results revealed that SWAT model can be used efficiently in semi-arid regions to support water management properties.