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Model
Watershed Analysis Risk Management Framework (WARMF)
SUSTAIN
Finite-Volume Community Ocean Model (FVCOM)
Water Erosion Prediction Project-Water Quality (WEPP-WQ) model
AnnAGNPS
GWLF
CE-QUAL-W2
PCSWMM
Gridded Surface/Subsurface Hydrologic Analysis (GSSHA) model
NDP
WAM
RGWLF
HYDROTEL
INCA-N
ELEMeNT-N
L-THIA
geomorphology-based nonpoint source pollution (GBNP)
DYRESM�CAEDYM
CBP-WSM (Chesapeake Bay Program Watershed Model)
Model to Assess River Inputs of Nutrients to Seas (MARINA) model
MapShed
DLEM
PDP
AVGWLF
Mike Basin
GLM
SimplyP
CAST
GPUOM-WQ
APEX
SWMM
Info Works (ICM)
Delft3D FM
INCA-C
SWAPP ("Comprehensive Environmental Optimization Tool SWAT�APEX Interface" model)
Distributed Hydrology Soil and Vegetation Model (DHSVM-N)
SWAT
WEP-N (Water and Energy transfer Processes and Nitrogen cycle Processes Model in Cold regions)
INCA-P
Nutrient delivery ratio (NDR) model and Sediment Delivery Ratio (SDR), Water Yield (WY), Seasonal Water Yield Model (SWYM), InVEST
LSPC
HSPF
Water Body Type
Water body
Watershed
Small Watershed
Watershed Size
Small
Large
Medium
Watershed Type
Agricultural
Urban
Water Body Characteristics
Lakes
Estuaries
Estuarine
Coastal
Oceans
Reservoirs
Rivers
Water Body Size
Small
Large
Medium
Dimensions
3D
1D
2D
Simulation Type
Event-based model
Continuous model
Parameters
TN
DO
Sediment Transport
tidal and wave parameters
algae
Nitrogen
Primary production and plankton dynamics
TP
TSS
Salinity
Carbon
Phosphorus
Q
TDS
wave parameters
Chla
salinity
Water Levels
Reservoir Operations
Time Step
Sub-daily
minutes
Monthly
hours
Daily
Annual
Seconds
Model Complexity
Complex
Medium
Simple
Simulation Objectives
Drainage system Design
Watershed management
urban stormwater management
Evaluate nitrogen loads in cold regions
Nutrient load assessment
modeling of complex domains
Designing and Sizing Drainage Systems
evaluate P sources
Water Supply Management
NPS nutrient loads evaluation
BMP cost estimation
TMDL development
Extreme events evaluation
evaluate pollutant sources
Predict the effects of natural and anthropogenic changes on water quality
Low impact development stormwater Assessment
Holistic Simulation
Support navigation
Evaluate legacy Nitrogen
Wave-Current Interaction
evaluate green infrastructure implementation
Land use changes assessment
Support reservoir management decisions
Screening Simulation
Climate Change Studies
Pollutant Transport
Agricultural Management
BMP Evaluations
Coastal and Estuarine Hydrodynamics
sustainable water resource management
Flood Risk Assessment
Estimate N exchange between Polder systems and surrounding rivers
evaluate N sources
Algal Bloom Predictions
flood risk assessment
management of eutrophication and algal blooms
Optimizing reservoir releases to manage downstream temperature and water quality
predict nitrogen dynamcis in a watershed
Floodplain Mapping
Assess sewer overflows
Evaluate future scenarios on nitrogen
Estimate P exchange between Polder systems and surrounding rivers
evaluate ecological restoration projects
BMP locations
Data Requirements
dissolved oxygen
nutrient concentrations
Precipitation
Solar radiation
Bathymetric data
relative humidity
algae
sediment characteristics
Relative humidity
delineated subbasins
N surplus
LULC
Wind
Wind speed
PET
DEM
temperature
outflows
precipitation
Temperature
water discharge
Soil
nutrient inputs from different sources
wind speed
Inflows
hydraulic data
evapotranspiration
Model Availability
Open source
(https://www.epa.gov/water-research/storm-water-management-model-swmm)
Open source
Open source
(www.ce.pdx.edu/w2)
The Chesapeake Bay Program's Phase 6 Watershed Model
Although the GSSHA model executable can be downloaded for free (GSSHA 2019)
and its documentation can be accessed
in a web browser:
+https://cast.chesapeakebay.net/
CAST
free of charge
a WMS software license must be purchased to use GSSHA in WMS.
Not open source
Open Source
Open source
(https://naturalcapitalproject.stanford.edu/software/invest)
Model Limitations
limited developer and community support
poor groundwater simulation
event mean concentration (EMC) is the critical parameter to simulate NPS loads
sensitive to parameter calibration
Point source loads are limited to constant loading rates for the entire simulation period
Spatial limitations of the WSM preclude edge of field scale representation of phosphorus (P) losses
Limited to Florida terrain
the suitability of selected parameters
InVEST SDR computes soil loss only from sheet and rill erosion and thus
a solution grid with a cell size of bigger than 200 m in GSSHA model can lead to signifcant errors in the results
Loads modeled by scenarios with MP effects are always lower than the alternative scenario because the CBPWSM assigns a load reduction credit to each MP
process simplification
Simplified Mixing Processes
does not simulate the strong biogeochemistry interaction between the atmosphere and the land surface
struggles with small-scale local flows
missing channel/river routing
ELEMeNT-N is limited in its ability to address long-term legacy N dynamics as it ignores temporal changes in soil organic N (SON) mineralization rates (Zhou et al.
structural parameter and data uncertainty
the representation of the P soil processes does not account for soil type
the decision space is high dimensional
can not be coupled with optimization algorithm
microbe species
Only urban watersheds
the discharge at the outlet will oscillate and the model may crash
Does not Simulate physical characteristics of BMPs
how the inputs and watershed processes are modeled to estimate load delivered to the Ba is indispensable for formulating an efficient optimization model
GUI is not open source
2021). does not represent urban land use. Simulates Nitrogen Only
assumes that future climate conditions and land use changes will follow historical patterns
the assumption of simplified hydrological and biogeochemical processes
not well documented
poor sediment simulation
Monthly nutrient load outputs
No Water Quality
The input data of the model are natural data and the socio-economic-related data are rarely considered
inaccurate seasonal
simulates lowland watersheds
and errors in the input data (climatic forcing variables)
which means the available N and P yields were averaged for subbasins before being used in the quality modeling
The decision variables are also nonseparable
Does not simulate baseflow
There are errors associated with SWYM predictions
manually calibration
does not simulate urban watersheds
GSSHA storm sewer pipes and stream channels are not fullylinked; flow can only travel from the pipes into the channels
extensive datasets
lacks the conception of subbasin
and air pollution around the city
non-commercial purposes only
but not total sediment load including bed load
returning of manure
poor simulation of small watersheds
Simulation results may differ in InfoWorks ICM due to different processing technologies
It lacks optimization procedures for reservoir operation
the LID component for modeling bioretention cells in PCSWMM could not be sufficiently verified
limited community support
WARMF does not account for a tile drainage system
poor interactive process between surface and subsurface water
not user friendly
the simulation is still based on monthly step
limitations in capturing preferential flow path in soil layers that contribute to subsurface streamflow (Melo et al.
does not simulate fertilization of farmland
the resolution of Mike Load Calculator is the subcatchment
poor nitrate simulation
stream bank and tunnel erosions
it did not consider other forms of erosion such as gully
Unless the mathematical concepts representing the surface and soil layer are made more representative of reality as well as made to be dynamic
the ability to simulate and predict a catchment�s behaviour exactly in response to environmental perturbations remains unlikely
One limitation with the model is that it takes all the crops as one
which may impact the numerically sensitive models
algal processes are oversimplifed
Poor Simulation of Extreme Events
Ignores BMPs' effectiveness
does not allow multiple subbasins to connect to a single reach
and groundwater quality
The water quality component in InfoWorks ICM is simplified
flow routing and curve number methods)
or cutting.
The processes of glaciers and permafrost are not considered by the InVEST model
As the time step is further increased
and theoption for rectangular cross sections was not functional
specifically for China
Dependent on Input Data
LTHIALID does not account for the potential impact of extreme storms
hydrostatic assumption for vertical momentum equation
2023)
Does not simulate hydrology
CBPWSM does not model lag times
limited to the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
Well-mixed in lateral direction
and the in-stream model does not include any mechanism to simulate macrophyte species competition
requires high computational resources
which include structural errors derived from the assumptions upon which the model works (e.g.
allencompassing optimization system
small scale watersheds
Several of required parameters and the unavailability of most of these parameters
accuracy decreases with higher trophic levels
does not simulate large watersheds
Model Expertise
and climate projections
The CAST documentation contains many details on the computation and rationalization of inputs however
The Python version is slow
are not yet included
Integration Complexity
The WEP-N model is based on mechanisms and
assumes horizontal homogeneity
hence
Simplified Biological Processes
potentially large P fluxes washed into watercourses when rainfall events coincide with fresh fertilizer and manure applications
IPOPT does not guarantee global optimality and so additional computational advantage may be gained through further study of the models mathematical characteristics and exploration of effective approximations
uncertainty because it did not simulate the strong biogeochemistry interaction between the atmosphere and the land surface.
model uncertainties
Fundamental problem in coupling the SWMM and GA with continuous simulation. Urban land uses
InVEST SDR demonstrated high potential for application in scenario studies and for prediction of suspended sediment export in large catchments
but rather can be aggregated
Such a description provided as one or a set of equations detailing the load function
Simulate specific species for phytoplankton
decadal
Incidental P losses
Calibration Complexity
Does not simulate Water quality
limited applications in urban watersheds
the structure of calculations in CAST presents several challenges for creating an integrated
does not simulate BMPs
Inadequate parameter optimization
sensitive to specific input parameters
deep groundwater aquifers
N aged >10 years consisted of two components: N inputs from more than 10 years ago and the natural background N pool (Zhou et al.
Urban and suburban land uses only
it does not simulate small outlets (manhole or inlets) loss directly
and the model has recently been recoded into C plus plus using the MOBIUS model building framework
GSSHA does not support autocalibration of the storm sewerparameters with its implementation of the PEST parameter estimation and uncertainty analysis software package
Nevertheless
Limitations in Biological Processes
does not simulate the small-scale transport of P across the land surface
it does not provide the entirety of the numerical formulation of CAST in equation form
SWMM is limited to urban watersheds
Annual Outputs
GSSHA does not allow for irregular pipe cross sections
2023).
Limited by the model structure and data availability
Limited to cold regions.
does not incorporate Zooplankton
does not incorporate SOD
ignores spatial variability in sub-surface modeling
requires relatively more input parameters
semi-distributed model
manual calibration
field scale model
Although good solutions were consistently found to instances of this nonlinear model
limited to urban watersheds
not suitable for shallow systems
Model Library
Model library serves as a comprehensive reference guide for various watershed and waterbody simulation models. It provides detailed descriptions of each model’s type, developers, capabilities, limitations, computational requirements, and data inputs and outputs. The aim is to assist researchers, policymakers, and practitioners in selecting the most suitable modeling tools for their specific application. Each model entry includes links to download resources if it is open-source, relevant references, and examples of practical applications to further support users in making informed decisions. For more details see Model Library .
Model
Watershed Size
Watershed Type
Simulation Objectives