Parameter Sensitivity Analysis of SWAT Modeling in the Upper Heihe River Basin Using Four Typical Approaches

作者：Xin Xiang, Tianqi Ao, Qintai Xiao, Xiaodong Li, Li Zhou, Yao Chen, Yao Bi, Jingyu Guo · 发表于：Applied Sciences · 年份：2022 · DOI：10.3390/app12199862 · 被引用次数：22 · 研究领域：Hydrology and Watershed Management Studies、Soil and Unsaturated Flow、Groundwater flow and contamination studies

Parameter sensitivity analysis is a significant part of quantifying model uncertainty, effectively identifying key parameters, and improving the efficiency of parameter optimization. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model was applied to the upper Heihe River basin (UHRB) in China to simulate the monthly runoff for 11 years (1990–2000). Four typical sensitivity analyses, namely, the Morris screening, Sobol analysis, Fourier amplitude sensitivity test (FAST), and extended Fourier amplitude sensitivity test (EFAST), were used to determine the critical parameters affecting hydrological processes. The results show that the sensitivity parameters defined by the four methods were significantly different, resulting in a specific difference in the simulation effect of the SWAT model. The reason may be the different sampling process, sensitivity index, and calculation principle of each method. The snow-melt base temperature (SMTMP) and snowfall temperature (SFTMP) related to the snow-melt process, the available water capacity of the soil layer (SOL_AWC), saturated hydraulic conductivity (SOL_K), depth from the soil surface to the bottom of the layer (SOL_Z), moist bulk density (SOL_BD), deep aquifer percolation fraction (RCHRG_DP), and threshold depth of water in the shallow aquifer required for return flow to occur (GWQMN) related to the soil water and groundwater movement, baseflow alpha factor for bank storage (ALPHA_BNK) related to the base flow regression, and average slo...