2021-06-01 ENVIRONMENTAL MODELLING & SOFTWARE 2021 140(卷), null(期), (null页)
Spatially distributed process models represent soil-water-plant-nutrient interactions within a watershed. We investigated spatial patterns of water balance components and nitrate transport simulated using the fully distributed AgES (Agricultural Ecosystems Services) and the semi-distributed SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool, 2012) models in the Big Dry Creek Watershed, a mixed agricultural and suburban watershed in semi-arid Colorado, USA. We analyzed patterns of hydrological fluxes using daily model outputs for the period 2010?2018. The two models simulated drastically different spatial patterns. SWAT predicted extremely low interflow and routed excess irrigation water to surface runoff and groundwater discharge. AgES produced realistic estimation of streamflow, irrigation return flows, and nitrate; simulation of less surface runoff and greater interflow and baseflow contributed to improved simulation of nitrate transport in the interior watersheds. This study demonstrated the impacts of simulating spatially explicit hydrology that captures interactions among fields and other areas within a managed watershed.