Simulation of runoff and sediment yield from a forest micro watershed in Shivalik foothills using WEPP Model Yousuf Abrar1,*, Bhardwaj A.1, Tiwari A.K.2, Bhatt V.K.2 1Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana-141 004 2ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Research Centre, Chandigarh-160019 *E-mail: er.aywani@gmail.com
Online published on 27 April, 2017. Abstract The Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) watershed model has been applied to simulate storm wise runoff and sediment yield from a small forest watershed having an area of 1.85 ha located in Shivalik foothills. Sensitivity analysis of the model was performed to identify the most critical parameters. The model was calibrated and validated using observed data pertaining to 52 storms (1982–2004) for the watershed. The watershed was divided into 29 hill slopes and 18 channels. Climate file was generated by CLIGEN software using observed meteorological data. Soil, slope and land use management files were prepared for each hills lope and channel. The model simulated storm runoff with percent error of 7.01 and 6.78, RMSE of 1.40 and 4.60 mm, and model efficiency of 94 and 87%, respectively and for simulation of sediment yield, the percent error was 5.01 and 4.96, RMSE was 0.41 and 0.66 mm, and model efficiency was 86.56 and 82.78%, respectively for the calibration and the validation periods. All the simulation statistical parameters are well within the acceptable limits and that shows reasonable accuracy of the model in simulating storm runoff and sediment yield. These results further indicate the suitability of the WEPP model for its future application in small forest watersheds of Shivalik foothills. Top Keywords Forest watershed, Hydrologic models, Runoff simulation, Sediment yield simulation, WEPP model. Top |