Modeling of a River Basin Using SWAT Model

In the present study, process-based rainfall-runoff model namely Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was calibrated for Manimala River basin in Kerala, with a catchment area of 780 km2. The observed data of rainfall-runoff for a period of 8 years 2000–2007 were used for calibration and validation of the basin. Altogether, seven SWAT model parameters were calibrated with heuristic approach for the time frame of 2000–2005. Validation of these calibrated parameters was carried out in another independent timeframe (2006–2007). The results obtained show that the surface runoff is influenced by the parameters such as CN, ESCO, and SOL_AWC, whereas baseflow was influenced by lower values of GW_REVAP and ALPHA_BF. Further, the values of RMSE and NOF suggest for acceptance of rainfall-runoff model.