Skip to main content
ARS Home » Plains Area » Temple, Texas » Grassland Soil and Water Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #399112
Research Project: Development of Enhanced Tools and Management Strategies to Support Sustainable Agricultural Systems and Water Quality

Location: Grassland Soil and Water Research Laboratory

Title: Augmenting the national agroecosystem model with physically based spatially distributed groundwater modeling

Author
item BAILEY, RYAN - Colorado State University
item ABBAS, SALAM - Colorado State University
item Arnold, Jeffrey
item White, Michael
item GAO, JUNGANG - Texas Agrilife Research
item CERKASOVA, NATALJA - Texas Agrilife Research

Submitted to: Environmental Modelling & Software
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/21/2022
Publication Date: 2/1/2023
Citation: Bailey, R.T., Abbas, S., Arnold, J.G., White, M.J., Gao, J., Cerkasova, N. 2023. Augmenting the national agroecosystem model with physically based spatially distributed groundwater modeling. Environmental Modelling & Software. 160:105589.

Interpretive Summary: The National Agroecosystem Model (NAM) is a field-based, national-scale hydrologic model that can be used to help with conservation planning and policy. In this study, the model was enhanced using the gwflow module and used to simulate groundwater storage and flow in a spatially distributed manner. A scripting tool was developed to automate the creation of gwflow inputs for each HUC8-scale SWAT+ model. Key calculated groundwater inflows and outflows include recharge, pumping, groundwater-lake exchange, groundwater-surface water exchange, transfer to soils, and boundary inflow. The framework was demonstrated for six HUC8 watersheds located in various regions of the United States.

Technical Abstract: We present an integrated hydrologic modeling approach for the conterminous United States using the SWAT+ models of the National Agroecosystem Model (NAM). The NAM is a field-based, national scale hydrologic model to aid in conservation planning and policy. In this study, we augment the NAM by simulating groundwater storage and flow in a physically based spatially distributed manner using the gwflow module. We also present a scripting tool that automates the creation of gwflow inputs for each HUC8-scale SWAT+ model. Key calculated groundwater inflows and outflows include recharge, pumping, groundwater-lake exchange, groundwater-surface water exchange, transfer to soils, and boundary inflow. We demonstrate the approach for six HUC8 watersheds located in various regions of the United States, focusing on areas of groundwater pumping, tile drainage, intensive groundwater-surface water interactions, and high precipitation. The presented framework can be used to establish models for scenario analysis of climate, management, and land use.