Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-494
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-494
24 Apr 2023
 | 24 Apr 2023
Status: this preprint is open for discussion.

How to account for irrigation withdrawals in a watershed model

Elisabeth Brochet, Sabine Sauvage, Youen Grusson, Ludovic Lhuissier, and Valérie Demarez

Abstract. In agricultural areas, the downstream flow can be highly influenced by human activities during low flow periods, especially dam releases and irrigation withdrawals. Irrigation is indeed the major use of freshwater in the world. This study aims at precisely taking these factors into account in a watershed model. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT+) agro-hydrological model was chosen for its capacity to model crop dynamics and management. Two different crop models were compared in their ability to estimate water needs and actual irrigation. The first crop model is based on air temperature as the main determining factor for the growth, whereas the second relies on high resolution data from Sentinel-2 satellite to monitor plant growth. Both are applied at plot scale in a watershed of 800 km2 characterized by irrigation withdrawals. Results show that including remote sensing data leads to more realistic modeled emergence dates for summer crops. However both approaches have proven to be able to reproduce the evolution of daily irrigation withdrawals throughout the year. As a result, both approaches allowed to simulate the downstream flow with a good daily accuracy, especially during low flow periods.

Elisabeth Brochet et al.

Status: open (until 21 Jun 2023)

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Elisabeth Brochet et al.

Model code and software

Customized SWAT+ model to include remote sensing NDVI data Elisabeth Brochet https://github.com/ElisabethJustin/SWATplus-NDVI

Elisabeth Brochet et al.

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Short summary
This study aims at taking into account irrigation withdrawals in a watershed model. The model we used combines agriculture and hydrological modeling. Two different crop models were compared, the first based on air temperature and the second based on Sentinel-2 satellite data. Results show that including remote sensing data leads to better emergence dates. Both methods allows to simulate the daily irrigation withdrawals and downstream flow with a good accuracy, especially during low flow periods.