Runoff simulation of Tangnaihai hydrological station in source area of Yellow River based on SWAT model

Studying the applicability of the SWAT model in the source area of the Yellow River is helpful for the comprehensive management of water resources and hydrological cycles in the source area of the Yellow River. The SWAT monthly runoff simulation model was constructed using DEM data, land use data, soil data and meteorological station data in the source area of the Yellow River, and the parameters were calibrated using the SUIF-2 algorithm in SWAT-CUP2012, with determation coefficients R-2 and Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency coefficients (NSE). The results show that the fit between the monthly runoff simulation process and the measured runoff process in the source area of the Yellow River is close. The R-2 and NSE were 0.77, 0.76, 0.90, and 0.89 in the model calibration period 2000 similar to 2009 and verification period 2010 similar to 2013, respectively. This shows that the SWAT model simulates the monthly runoff process of the source area of the Yellow River satisfactoriy, that is, the SWAT model e has good applicability in the Yellow River source area.