Applications of Hydrological Model Simulated Long Term Water Balance
Components for India
Abstract
Hydrological models are useful tools for simulating long-term trends in
hydrological components resulting from climate and anthropogenic
factors. In the present study, long-term hydrological components are
simulated using Variable Infiltration Capacity – VIC, a process based
model for the time period of 1971-2013 at a resolution of 5.5 km for
entire India. The model was calibrated and validated against observed
streamflow for all the southern river basins. The simulated soil
moisture was also evaluated using in situ observations. It is observed
that there is a slight increase in precipitation for Cauvery, Krishna,
Ganga and Godavari basins. The model derived soil moisture was converted
into percentage available soil moisture (PASM) taking into account of
water holding characteristics of soils, which is depicting a good
agreement in time and space. Floods and its return period were
reconstructed and analyzed by calculating basin wise annual maximum
streamflow for the entire period. This modeling framework is developed
for the entire country which will contribute towards evaluating and
planning for water resources management, its retrospective outlook,
mitigating drought, periodic water budgeting, agriculture planning, and
irrigation scheduling.