Enhanced crop calibration for SWAT+: evaluating water, sediment and nutrient impacts across ten European catchments
This study proposes a new workflow for crop growth evaluation and yield calibration in the Soil and Water Assessment Tool Plus (SWAT+) model and evaluates its impact on simulated hydrological and biogeochemical processes. The workflow was applied for ten small agricultural catchments in Europe. A detailed demonstration is provided for the German catchment, Schwarzer Schöps. The workflow proved effective across all catchments, improving yield calibration from an initial R 2 of 0.5 to 0.84. The results show that evapotranspiration and soil moisture were only moderately affected by crop calibration in three catchments (Belgium, Czech Republic and Norway) and negligibly changed in the remaining ones. Sediment and nutrient balance were affected more strongly: sediment, nitrogen and phosphorus loss change reached 82% (Norway), 16% and 20% (Czech Republic), respectively. The proposed workflow is a valuable tool for improving the accuracy of SWAT+ simulations and can be used to support decision-making in environmental management. • A new workflow improves crop yield calibration in SWAT+ across Europe. • Crop yield calibration enhances model accuracy, raising R 2 from 0.5 to 0.84. • Evapotranspiration and soil moisture show mild changes after crop calibration. • Crop calibration strongly impacts sediment and nutrient balances in some areas. • The workflow supports better SWAT+ modeling for environmental management.
Authors
- Marie Anne Eurie Forio (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6675-4751)
- Piroska Kassai
- Štěpán Marval
- Michael Strauch (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9872-6904)
- Mohammad Reza Eini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3323-5952)
- Mikołaj Piniewski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7930-4549)
- Enrico Antonio Chiaradia
- Petr Slavík
- Christoph Schürz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7204-5828)
- Csilla Farkas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6848-1790)
- Moritz Shore (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7586-997X)
- Svajūnas Plunge (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8897-3349)
- Peter L.M. Goethals (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1168-6776)
- Brigitta Szabó (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1485-8908)
- Felix Witing (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7314-4908)
- Péter Braun (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-7750-8833)
- Natalja Čerkasova (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2894-3935)
- Diego Panique-Casso (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9418-6058)
- Lorenzo Sanguanini
- Joana Eichenberger
Institutions
- University of Bern (CH)
- Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (DE)
- Warsaw University of Life Sciences (PL)
- Texas A&M University System (US)
- University of Milan (IT)
- Temple College (US)
- Ghent University Hospital (BE)
- Klaipėda University (LT)
- Institute for Soil Sciences (HU)
- Institute of Meteorology and Water Management (PL)
- Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NO)
- Výzkumný ústav monitoringu a ochrany půdy, v. v. i. (CZ)
- HUN-REN Centre for Agricultural Research (HU)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Environmental Modelling & Software
- Published
- 2025-11-20
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2025.106794
- Primary Topic
- Hydrology and Watershed Management Studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00