SWAT Model Performance Using Spatially Distributed Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity (Ksat) and Varying-Resolution DEMs

Saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) is a hydrologic flux parameter commonly used to determine water movement through the saturated soil zone. Understanding the influences of land-use-specific Ksat on the model estimation error of water balance components is necessary to advance model predictive certainties and land management practices. An exploratory modeling approach was developed in the physically based Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) framework to investigate the effects of spatially distributed observed Ksat on local water balance components using three digital elevation model (DEM) resolution scenarios (30 m, 10 m, and 1 m). All three DEM scenarios showed satisfactory model performance during calibration (R-2 > 0.74, NSE > 0.72, and PBIAS <= +/- 13%) and validation (R-2 > 0.71, NSE > 0.70, and PBIAS <= +/- 6%). Results showed that the 1 m DEM scenario provided more realistic streamflow results (0.315 m(3)/s) relative to the observed streamflow (0.292 m(3)/s). Uncertainty analysis indicated that observed Ksat forcings and DEM resolution significantly influence predictions of lateral flow, groundwater flow, and percolation flow. Specifically, the observed Ksat has a more significant impact on model predictive confidence than DEM resolution. Results emphasize the potential uncertainty of using observed Ksat for hydrological modeling and demonstrate the importance of finer-resolution spatial data (i.e., 1 m DEM) applied in smaller watersheds.