ConfiguringandRunningtheSWATModel

WrittenbyLauraBriley,2010
UniversityofMichigan/NOAA/CIRES

TableofContents
CONFIGURINGANDRUNNINGTHESWATMODEL

BACKGROUND
1. SOFTWARE:MWSWAT
2. DELINEATEWATERSHED
3. CREATEHYDROLOGICALRESPONSEUNITS(HRUS)
4. SWATSETUP
A. WEATHERSOURCES
B. RAINFALL/RUNOFF/ROUTING
C. RAINFALLDISTRIBUTION
D. POTENTIALETMETHOD
E. CRACKFLOW
F. CHANNELWATERROUTINGMETHOD
G. CHANNELDIMENSIONS
H. STREAMWATERQUALITYPROCESSES
5. WRITESWATINPUTFILES
6. RUNSWAT
7. HELPFULRESOURCES

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Background
TheSoilWaterandAssessmentTool(SWAT)isveryeasytorunifalloftheinputfilesare
preparedproperly.TheDataPreProcessingforSWATdocumentgivesinstructionfor
preparingyourdata,butthesearenottheinputfilesforSWAT.Forofficialdocumentation
ofSWATinput/outputfiles,seehttp://swatmodel.tamu.edu/documentation.Thereisa
plugintoMapWindowthatwillcreatethenecessaryfilesforyoubyusingthepre
processeddata.Thisdocumentdemonstrateshowtoutilizethissoftware,MWSWAT,in
ordertorunSWAT.

1. Software:MWSWAT
DownloadMWSWATandinstallinthedefaultlocation(C:\Program
Files\MapWindow\Plugins\MWSWAT)
http://waterbase.org
ThepresentversionofMWSWATincludesthe2005versionofSWATbutlater
versionsofSWATareavailableandmaybeinstalledinitsplaceiftheuserchooses
thisoption.

2. DelineateWatershed
StartMapWindowandunderthepluginswindowturnontheMWSWATand
WatershedDelineationoptions.MapWindowmayneedtoberestartedinorderfor
themtoappearacrossthetoptoolbar.SelecttheMWSWATplugininthetop
toolbar.Thefollowingboxshouldopen:

SelectNewProjectandcreateanamefortheproject.Thiswillcreateanewfolder
inthedirectorynamedafterthenewprojectaswellasaMapWindowprojectfile.
TheMWSWATinterfacewilldirectyouthroughthedataprocessingsteps.

SelectStep1:DelineateWatershedandpullupyourclippedDEMfilecreatedearlier.
ThenselectProcessDEM.ThiswillplaceyourDEMinthenewmapwindowanda
newprocessingframewillappear:

ThefirstsectionofoptionsallowsyoutospecifytheDEMlayerandits
characteristics.EitheruseCurrentViewExtentsforthemaskorcancelUseaFocus
Mask.Note:makesurethatallthelayersyouthroughouttheprocessareofthe
sameprojection.ClickRunforthetopsection.

Thesecondsectionconsistsofdefiningthenetworkdelineationusingthethreshold
method.Thisisthethresholdinareaunitsflowingintoagivenpointbeforeitis

designatedasastream.Thelowerthenumber,themorestreamsandsubbasins
willbecreated*.Oncedefined,selectRun.

Lastly,youmusteitherselectaninlet/outletfileorcreateanewone.Ifcreatinga
newone,firstzoomintotheDEMregionwherethestreamscrosstheboundaryof
yourregion(forexample,watershed).ThenselectDrawInlets/Outlets.Name
yournewfileandthenclickonthemapwherethestreamsenter(exit)yourregion
anddefinethemasinlets(outlets).Runthefinalsection.

Attheendofdelineatingthewatershed,yourmapwindowwilllooksimilarto:

3. CreateHydrologicalResponseUnits(HRUs)*
SelectCreateHRUs.Anewwindowwillappearwhereyouwilluploadyour
landusedataandsoildata.IfusingthedataprovidedonWaterbase.org,youmay
usethetablesglobal_landusesandglobal_soils.Ifusingdatathatdoesnotfollow
thesetableassignments,pleaseseepage64oftheMapWindowInterfaceforSWAT
document:
http://www.waterbase.org/documents.html
Oncethetablesareselected,Readthedata.Youwillnoticemanydropdown
menusandoptionsavailablewhencreatingtheHRUs.Youmayreadinmoredetail
abouttheseoptionsinthedocumentlistedabove.Seesection5.2ofthedocument
foradditionalhelp.Afterallofyourselectionsaremade,Create[the]HRUs.

4. SWATSetup
ThelaststagebeforerunningSWATistodefineafewmoreselectionsforthe
variousoptionsoffered.Firstdefinethetimeframeofthesimulation.Next,under
WeatherSources,selectChoose.


MWSWAThasatemplatedatabasethatistheinitialdatabaseforallnewprojects.
Thisdatabasehasbuiltinweatherstationdatathatmaybeusedbyselecting
Databasetablesandweather_sourcesinthedropdown.Formeasuredweather
data(precipitation[.pcp],temperature[.tmp],solarradiation[.slr],wind[.wnd],and
humidity[.hmd])itispossibletoeithereditthetablesinthedatabaseorreadinthe
textfilescreatedintheSWATPreProcessingdocument.
a. WeatherSources
i. ImportingYourDataIntheChooseSWATweathersources
window,selecttousealocalfileanduploadthestationfileyou
created.Thisselectionindicatesthatyouwillusedatainthemodel
runandMWSWATwillgolinebylinethroughthestationfileandfind
theassociateddatafilesandcondensethem.Forexample,.pcpfiles
willbecondensedintopcp1.pcp.Upto6stationswillbeincludedin
onepcp1.pcpfileandremainderswillbeinpcp2.pcp,pcpn.pcp.
ii. TheWeatherGeneratorTheweathergeneratorfillsinanygapsin
yourmeasuredweatherdataoritmaybeusedifyoudonothaveany
weatherdata.EachnewMWSWATprojectissuppliedwithaweather
generatortablefortheUSandmaybeusedifyourwatershedis
withintheUS.
iii. SelectDoneonceyourweathersourcesarechosen.
b. Rainfall/Runoff/Routing
i. Runoff
1. RunoffCurveNumber(CN)isanempiricalparameterusedfor
predictingdirectrunofforinfiltrationfromexcessrainfall.1
2. GreenandAmpt(G&A)assumewaterinfiltratesdrysoilasa
sharpwettingfront.2

1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runoff_curve_number

2http://www.alanasmith.com/theoryCalculatingEffectiveRainfallTheGreenAmpt
Method.htm

c. RainfallDistribution
Usedtogeneratedailyprecipitationvalues.
i. Skewednormal
ii. Mixedexponential
d. PotentialETMethod
i. PriestleyTaylorisanempiricalapproximationofthePenman
combinationequationtoeliminatetheneedforinputdataother
thanradiation.3
ii. PenmanMonteithisanequation[that]requiresdailymean
temperature,windspeed,relativehumidity,andsolarradiationto
predictnetevapotranspiration.4
iii. HargreavesisusefulwhenestimatingETinsituationswheredata
banksarelimitedandonlymaximumandminimumairtemperature
dataareavailable.5
iv. Readin
e. CrackFlow
i. ThisisanewfeaturetoSWATandhashadlimitedtesting.Itshould
onlybeactivatedonsoilsclassifiedasVertisols.
f. ChannelWaterRoutingMethod
i. Variablestoragecausestheoutflowvolumetobeafunctionofthe
storagecoefficient,volumeflowingin,andthevolumestored.6
ii. Muskingummethodconsidersalinearchangeindepthalongthe
reach.7
g. ChannelDimensions
i. Thisisanew(andundertested)featureofSWATthatallowschannel
dimensionstobeupdatedasaresultofdegradation.Itis
recommendedtokeepdimensionsconstant.
h. StreamWaterQualityProcesses
i. Ifturnedon,instreamtransformationsofnutrientsandpesticidesare
allowed.

5. WriteSWATInputFiles
a. Oncealloftheoptionshavebeenconfigured,checktheWriteallfilesbox
andthenWritefiles.

3http://www.civil.uwaterloo.ca/watflood/Manual/02_03_1.htm
4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PenmanMonteith
5HydrologyhandbookByAmericanSocietyofCivilEngineers.TaskCommitteeon
HydrologyHandbook
6www.brc.tamus.edu/swat/.../ChannelSedimentPositionPaper.pdf
7DesignhydrologyandsedimentologyforsmallcatchmentsByCharlesThomasHaan

b. AwindowwillappearifyourwatershedisintheUSaskingforplantgrowth
heatunits.ValuesareprovidedforUSregions.Ifyouwishtouseadefault
value,thiswillhavetobeobtainedelsewhere.

6. RunSWAT
a. Afterthemessageappearsthatyourfileshavebeenwritten,RunSWATand
saveyourrun.

7. HelpfulResources

MapWindowInterfaceforSWAT
WaterBase:SWATinanopensourceGIS
http://www.waterbase.org/documents.html