Water quality modelling in the San Antonio River Basin driven by radar rainfall data

Abstract

Continuous monitoring of stream water quality is needed as it has significant impacts on human and ecological health and well-being. Estimating water quality between sampling dates requires model simulation based on the available geospatial and water quality data for a given watershed. Models such as the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) can be used to estimate the missing water quality data. In this study, SWAT was used to estimate water quality at a monitoring station near the outlet of the San Antonio River. Precipitation data from both rain gauges and weather radar were used to force the SWAT simulations. Virtual rain gauges which were based on weather radar data were created in the approximate centres of the 163 sub-watersheds of the San Antonio River Basin for SWAT simulations. This method was first tested in a smaller watershed in the middle of the Guadalupe River Basin resulting in increased model efficiency in simulating surface run-off. The method was then applied to the San Antonio River watershed and yielded good simulations for surface run-off (R2 = 0.7), nitrate (R2 = 0.6) and phosphate (R2 = 0.5) at the watershed outlet (Goliad, TX – USGS (United States Geological Survey) gauge) as compared to observed data. The study showed that the proper use of weather radar precipitation in SWAT model simulations improves the estimation of missing water quality data.