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Predicting phosphorus and nitrate loads by using SWAT model in Vamanapuram River Basin, Kerala, India

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Abstract

Evaluations of probable environmental impacts of point and diffuse source pollution at regional sizes are essential to achieve sustainable development of natural resources such as land and water. This research focused on how nitrate and phosphorus load varied over time and space in the Vamanapuram River Basin (VRB). Phosphorus and nitrate loads have been evaluated in the VRB using the semi-distributed Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) hydrological model. SWAT Calibration and Uncertainty Programs (SWAT-CUP) have simulated the developed model using the Sequential Uncertainty Fitting, version 2(SUFI-2). The developed model was simulated for 2001 to 2008, and it was split into two-phase calibration and validation phases. Model performance was evaluated by the percentage of bias (PBAIS) and Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency coefficient (NSE). The simulated performance of nitrate was indicated as NSE = 0.22–0.59 and PBIAS = 51.86–65.88. The simulated performance of phosphorus showed NSE = 0.06–0.33 and PBIAS = 15.14–33.97. Total Phosphorus load was most sensitive to the organic Phosphorus enrichment ratio (ERORGP) and CH_N2 for streamflow simulation. This study concluded that the South-western region was a high potential for nutrient loads. This study will explain the nutrient load and guidelines for land management practice in the study area.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, India

    Subbarayan Saravanan & Leelambar Singh

  2. Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Faculty of Agriculture, Annamalai University, Annamalainagar, Tamil Nadu, India

    Subbarayan Sathiyamurthi

  3. Department of Civil Engineering, Hindusthan College of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore, India

    Vivek Sivakumar

  4. Department of Civil Engineering, Kongu Engineering College, Erode, India

    Sampathkumar Velusamy & Manoj Shanmugamoorthy

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  1. Subbarayan Saravanan
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Saravanan, S., Singh, L., Sathiyamurthi, S. et al. Predicting phosphorus and nitrate loads by using SWAT model in Vamanapuram River Basin, Kerala, India. Environ Monit Assess 195, 186 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-022-10786-2

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