An integrated hydrological model to simulate terrestrial water storage in a large river basin: Evaluation using GRACE data

Study region: Krishna River Basin, India Study focus: Integrated hydrological models that simulate surface and subsurface processes, and their interactions in a single framework are essential for effective management of large-scale river basins. This research is aimed at developing an integrated hyd...

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Main Authors: Sai Srinivas Gorugantula, BVN P Kambhammettu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-06-01
Series:Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214581825001338
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author Sai Srinivas Gorugantula
BVN P Kambhammettu
author_facet Sai Srinivas Gorugantula
BVN P Kambhammettu
author_sort Sai Srinivas Gorugantula
collection DOAJ
description Study region: Krishna River Basin, India Study focus: Integrated hydrological models that simulate surface and subsurface processes, and their interactions in a single framework are essential for effective management of large-scale river basins. This research is aimed at developing an integrated hydrological model for the Krishna River Basin (KRB), India by tightly coupling a semi-distributed hydrological model (SWAT) with a fully distributed groundwater model (MODFLOW). New hydrological insights for the region: For the first time, the coupled SWAT-MODFLOW model was applied to a large (>250,000 km2), conjunctively managed, complexly interacted river basin. SWAT simulated streamflows and evapotranspiration (ET) for the seven sub-basins agree with gauge flows (R: 0.45–0.85; NSE: 0.2–0.69) and MODIS-derived ET fluxes (R: 0.18–0.81; NSE: −3.18–0.66). However, MODFLOW simulated heads are in less agreement with observed groundwater levels (R: −0.6–0.6) due to spatial averaging. The coupled SWAT-MODFLOW is used to estimate terrestrial water storage anomalies (TWSA) at sub-basin level and validated with downscaled GRACE data at 0.25° resolution. Model performance is good for the lower reaches (NSE >0.3; R >0.65) with high flow exchanges and is low for the upper reaches due to underestimation of individual fluxes (NSE <0.3; R <0.65). We observed a basin-wide decline in TWSA during the simulation at a rate of 1.45 mm/month. Our findings can help in developing contextual plans for effective management of water resources.
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spelling doaj-art-bef021d952e14d51a5a690bd0e1fee9b2025-08-20T03:13:07ZengElsevierJournal of Hydrology: Regional Studies2214-58182025-06-015910230910.1016/j.ejrh.2025.102309An integrated hydrological model to simulate terrestrial water storage in a large river basin: Evaluation using GRACE dataSai Srinivas Gorugantula0BVN P Kambhammettu1Corresponding author.; Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad, Telangana, IndiaDepartment of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad, Telangana, IndiaStudy region: Krishna River Basin, India Study focus: Integrated hydrological models that simulate surface and subsurface processes, and their interactions in a single framework are essential for effective management of large-scale river basins. This research is aimed at developing an integrated hydrological model for the Krishna River Basin (KRB), India by tightly coupling a semi-distributed hydrological model (SWAT) with a fully distributed groundwater model (MODFLOW). New hydrological insights for the region: For the first time, the coupled SWAT-MODFLOW model was applied to a large (>250,000 km2), conjunctively managed, complexly interacted river basin. SWAT simulated streamflows and evapotranspiration (ET) for the seven sub-basins agree with gauge flows (R: 0.45–0.85; NSE: 0.2–0.69) and MODIS-derived ET fluxes (R: 0.18–0.81; NSE: −3.18–0.66). However, MODFLOW simulated heads are in less agreement with observed groundwater levels (R: −0.6–0.6) due to spatial averaging. The coupled SWAT-MODFLOW is used to estimate terrestrial water storage anomalies (TWSA) at sub-basin level and validated with downscaled GRACE data at 0.25° resolution. Model performance is good for the lower reaches (NSE >0.3; R >0.65) with high flow exchanges and is low for the upper reaches due to underestimation of individual fluxes (NSE <0.3; R <0.65). We observed a basin-wide decline in TWSA during the simulation at a rate of 1.45 mm/month. Our findings can help in developing contextual plans for effective management of water resources.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214581825001338Catchment modelConjunctive managementIntegrated hydrological modelSWAT-MODFLOWSurface waterGroundwater
spellingShingle Sai Srinivas Gorugantula
BVN P Kambhammettu
An integrated hydrological model to simulate terrestrial water storage in a large river basin: Evaluation using GRACE data
Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies
Catchment model
Conjunctive management
Integrated hydrological model
SWAT-MODFLOW
Surface water
Groundwater
title An integrated hydrological model to simulate terrestrial water storage in a large river basin: Evaluation using GRACE data
title_full An integrated hydrological model to simulate terrestrial water storage in a large river basin: Evaluation using GRACE data
title_fullStr An integrated hydrological model to simulate terrestrial water storage in a large river basin: Evaluation using GRACE data
title_full_unstemmed An integrated hydrological model to simulate terrestrial water storage in a large river basin: Evaluation using GRACE data
title_short An integrated hydrological model to simulate terrestrial water storage in a large river basin: Evaluation using GRACE data
title_sort integrated hydrological model to simulate terrestrial water storage in a large river basin evaluation using grace data
topic Catchment model
Conjunctive management
Integrated hydrological model
SWAT-MODFLOW
Surface water
Groundwater
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214581825001338
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