Skip to main content
ARS Home » Plains Area » Temple, Texas » Grassland Soil and Water Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #362342
Research Project: Resilient Management Systems and Decision Support Tools to Optimize Agricultural Production and Watershed Responses from Field to National Scale

Location: Grassland Soil and Water Research Laboratory

Title: A review of SWAT studies in southeast Asia: Applications, challenges and future directions

Author
item TAN, MOU - Iowa State University
item GASSMAN, PHILIP - Texas A&M University
item SRINIVASAN, RAGHAYAN - Texas A&M University
item Arnold, Jeffrey
item YANG, XIAOYING - Fudan University

Submitted to: Water
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/26/2019
Publication Date: 5/1/2019
Citation: Tan, M.L., Gassman, P., Srinivasan, R., Arnold, J.G., Yang, X. 2019. A review of SWAT studies in southeast Asia: Applications, challenges and future directions. Water. 11(5):914-939. https://doi.org/10.3390/w11050914.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/w11050914

Interpretive Summary: The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model is well recognized as one of the top eco-hydrological models applied for addressing hydrologic and environmental issues. This study is the first review on the SWAT model studies in Southeast Asia, with emphasis of its applications, current challenges and future research directions. A total of 126 articles were identified since 2006, and most of these studies were conducted in Vietnam and Thailand. About 16% of the studies were performed in transnational scale, which covered Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Vietnam. Model capability assessment, land use and climate change assessment are the main SWAT applications in this region. Based on the performance indicators, most of the SWAT studies were classified as satisfactory to very good results. However, the parameter, calibration and validation procedures are not well reported in some articles. Availability of reliable data is the main problem as these data are either chargeable or restricted to public in some countries. Hence, future studies should be considered on identification and development of reliable input data for SWAT modeling. Another important gap is the lack of SWAT model modification to fit with the local climate and geographical conditions. The manuscript addresses key challenges to applying hydrological models to regions of the world with limited soil, land use and management data.

Technical Abstract: The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model is well recognized as one of the top eco-hydrological models applied for addressing hydrologic and environmental issues. This study is the first review on the SWAT model studies in Southeast Asia, with emphasis of its applications, current challenges and future research directions. A total of 126 articles were identified since 2006, and most of these studies were conducted in Vietnam and Thailand. About 16% of the studies were performed in transnational scale, which covered Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Vietnam. Model capability assessment, land use and climate change assessment are the main SWAT applications in this region. Based on the performance indicators, most of the SWAT studies were classified as satisfactory to very good results. However, the parameter, calibration and validation procedures are not well reported in some articles. Availability of reliable data is the main problem as these data are either chargeable or restricted to public in some countries. Hence, future studies should be considered on identification and development of reliable input data for SWAT modeling. Another important gap is the lack of SWAT model modification to fit with the local climate and geographical conditions.