Calibration and validation of the swat hydrological model for the mucuri river basin

Abstract

Hydrological models are becoming more and more widespread, mainly due to their capacity to simulate the impact of environmental changes on water resources. In this way, the aim of this study was to calibrate and validate the SWAT model for the soil and climatic conditions of the Mucuri River Basin, located in the Northeast region of the States of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The SWAT-CUP software module SUFI2 was used to analyze the sensitivity, calibration and validation of the model. The calibration was performed in an intermediate fluviometric station and the validation in five other located: three upstream, one downstream and one independent from the calibration point. It was evidenced for the study area that the parameters referring to the basic flow processes were more sensitive. The model obtained a good adjustment with an overestimate tendency of 15%. In general, the SWAT model, using SWAT-CUP was good and adequate in terms of its calibration performance and validation of the flow simulation in the Mucuri River Basin by the determination coefficients, Nash-Suttclife efficiency and percentage of trend.