Record Detail

This study focuses on analysis of future climate change impacts on West Nishnabotna Watershed, using climate model data and an open source hydrological model—Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), which is run in Quantum eographical Information Sys-tem(QGIS) environment. The data required to simulate hydrological processes using SWAT plugin in QGIS (QSWAT) are Digital Elevation Model, land use/landcover map, soil map, slope map and climate data of the study area. The required climate parameters like maximum temperature, minimum temperature and precipitation are obtained from North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program climate model database which are
bias corrected for the study area using linear scaling method. SWAT model is setup using observed climate and the model calibration and validation is performed using SWAT Calibration and Uncertainty Program (SWAT-CUP). Simulations are run for historic (1971–1999) and future (2041–2069) climate conditions for the stream flow prediction. The climate change impact analysis like anomalies and trends in the hydrological regime of the watershed are carried out based on QSWAT simulation results.