HYDROLOGICAL MODEL ANALYSIS CONSIDERING SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF GEOLOGICAL, SOIL AND LAND USE CONDITIONS

Abstract

Physically distributed modeling is highly required for hydrological prediction in watersheds with heterogeneous land surfaces, soils and aquifers under uneven distribution of rainfall to better estimate impacts of future environmental changes such as land cover alterations and climate change. In this study, the applicability of WEP model, a grid-based distributed hydrological model, was enhanced by focusing on the hydrological influence of soil types, geological condition, land use, and their spatial distributions. The methodology to consider these factors in model inputs is established with the use of dataset of soil properties and geological conditions of the Abukuma river watershed. Simulation results showed good agreements with observed for most sub-watersheds followed by a certain parameter calibration, suggesting the potentially high applicability to a variety of watershed conditions.