IOP Conference Series:

Earth and
Environmental Science

OPEN ACCESS You may also like

- Machine learning assisted hybrid models
Assessment of evapotranspiration and soil water can improve streamflow simulation in
diverse catchments across the
content in the Kysuca River basin (Slovakia) using conterminous US
Goutam Konapala, Shih-Chieh Kao, Scott
L Painter et al.
a rainfall-runoff model
- Simulation of Rainfall-Runoff in the Diyala
River Basin in Iraq using Hydrological
To cite this article: Romana Košková et al 2008 IOP Conf. Ser.: Earth Environ. Sci. 4 012002 Model by HMS with remote sensing, Geo-
HMS and ArcGIS
Faris Sahib Alrammahi and Ahmed Naseh
Ahmed Hamdan

- Evaluating the combined impact of climate

View the article online for updates and enhancements. change and urbanization patterns on flood
risks
Syed Shujaat Ali, Syed Akhtar Ali Shah,
Fahad Ahmed et al.

This content was downloaded from IP address [Link] on 09/07/2026 at 17:16

XXIVth Conference of the Danubian Countries IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 4 (2008) 012002 doi:10.1088/1755-1307/4/1/012002

Assessment of evapotranspiration and soil water content in

the Kysuca River basin (Slovakia) using a rainfall-runoff
model

Romana Košková1, Soňa Němečková1, and Zuzana Sitková2

1
The Institute of Hydrodynamics, AS CR, v.v.i. Pod Patankou 5, 166 12 Prague,
Czech Republic
2
The National Forest Centre T. G. Masaryka st. 22, 960 92 Zvolen, Slovakia

E-mail: koskova@[Link], nemeckova@[Link], sitkova@[Link]

Abstract. Rainfall-runoff modelling is a commonly-used tool for analysis of various aspects of

hydrological research. An application of the distributed hydrological model brings the benefits
of assessment to the spatially distributed results. Description of the spatial distribution of soil
and vegetation types is an essential task and substantially influences the accuracy of the results.
The Kysuca River basin has been chosen for an evaluation of soil water content and
evapotranspiration by a distributed hydrological model, SWIM (Soil and Water Integrated
Model). The primary interest in this analysis was motivated by assessment of forest health
conditions in the area and finding possible causes of forest deterioration. Evapotranspiration
and soil water content in two selected soil layers in each hydrotop have been evaluated in a
simulation period, 1995-1999. A set of maps each representing an individual day of the
simulation period has been obtained as a result of the simulation for each variable mentioned
above. The simulation has also been carried out for 2007, when the results for selected
hydrotops were statistically processed and compared with the available observed data
measured during the field survey. Nevertheless, the comparison is affected by the fact that the
tensometers have not yet been calibrated to the local conditions. The resulting uncertainties had
to be taken into account. The main trends of the simulated and measured soil water content
have been evaluated and assessed as satisfactory.

1. Introduction
Rainfall-runoff modelling is a commonly-used tool for analysis of various aspects in hydrological
research, recently very often related to global climate change. This article deals with modelling of
evapotranspiration and soil water content in different layers in the mesoscale Kysuca River basin
(1016 km2). Soil water conditions are one of the main factors determining conditions of vegetation
cover. The simulations were carried out as part of a larger study about the role of different aspects
(biotic, abiotic and antropogenic factors) in the health of vegetation cover and its revitalisation. It is
typical of the Czech and Slovak Republic that mountains are covered by pine-woods which are not the
original ecosystems. The aim of this article is to describe the soil water conditions and
evapotranspiration in the mentioned river basin using SWIM (Soil and Water Integrated Model).


c 2008 IOP Publishing Ltd 1
XXIVth Conference of the Danubian Countries IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 4 (2008) 012002 doi:10.1088/1755-1307/4/1/012002

2. Hydrological model SWIM

The SWIM model has been developed in the PIK (Potsdam Institute for Climatic Research, Germany).
Two different models, SWAT and MATSALU, have been combined into one unified system known as
SWIM [1]. SWIM is a continuous-time distributed simulation watershed model. It was developed to
predict the effects of the alternative management decisions on water, sediment, and chemical yields
with reasonable accuracy for the ungauged rural basins. It was motivated by water resources
management in densely populated agricultural areas (water pollution problem), arid and semi-arid
regions (water scarcity), and mountainous and loess regions (erosion problem). The other motivation
is an ongoing climate change and land use/land cover change. Development of water resources in the
conditions of global change requires an understanding and adequate (mesoscale and large-scale)
representation in the models of the basic hydrological and related processes, i.e. the river basins of
hundreds, thousands or tens of thousands of square kilometres. The SWIM model was developed in
order to provide a comprehensive GIS-based tool for hydrological and water quality modelling in the
mesoscale and large river basins, which can be parameterised with regionally available information.
The model was mainly intended for use in Europe and temperate zones, though its application in other
regions is possible as well. The model integrates hydrology, vegetation, erosion and nutrient dynamics
at the basin scale. SWIM has a three-tier disaggregation scheme, ‘basin – sub-basins – hydrotopes’,
and is coupled with the Geographic Information System GRASS [2]. Model test and validation were
performed sequentially for hydrology, crop growth, nitrogen and erosion in a number of the mesoscale
basins in the German part of the Elbe drainage basin. A comprehensive scheme of spatial
disaggregation into sub-basins and hydrotopes combined with reasonable restriction on a sub-basin
area allows assessment of water resources and water quality with SWIM in the mesoscale river basins
to be performed. The hydrological model is based on water balance in several layers of soil column
that includes precipitation, evapotranspiration, percolation, surface runoff and subsurface runoff
(figure 1).

2
XXIVth Conference of the Danubian Countries IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 4 (2008) 012002 doi:10.1088/1755-1307/4/1/012002

Figure 1. Flow chart of the SWIM model [1]

2.1. Evapotranspiration calculation

An expression of evapotranspiration in the model is based on the calculation of evaporation from soils
and transpiration by plants separately, according to Ritchie [3]. The plant transpiration is calculated
with the value of potential evapotranspiration and LAI (leaf area index). If soil water is limited, plant
water transpiration is reduced.
[Link]
EP  if 0  LAI  3 or EP  EO if LAI  3 (1)
3
EO the potential evapotranspiration [mm.d-1],
EP the plant transpiration [mm.d-1],
LAI the area of plant leaves relative to a soil surface area.
Potential soil evaporation from a soil surface ESO [mm.d-1] is simulated by an exponential function of
the leaf area index according to the equation of Richardson and Ritchie [4]:
ESO  EO. exp([Link] ) (2)
Actual evaporation from a soil surface is calculated in two stages. In the first stage only the energy
available at the surface limits the actual soil evaporation, which is equal to the potential soil
evaporation in this case. When the accumulated soil evaporation exceeds the first-stage threshold
(equal to 6 mm), the second stage begins after the following expression:
ES  3.5.( TST  TST  1) (3)
ES soil evaporation from a soil surface for day t [mm.d-1],
TST number of days since stage-two evaporation began.
Actual soil water evaporation is estimated on the basis of Priestley-Taylor method from the top 30 cm
of soil and snow cover, if any [5]. If the water content of snow cover is greater than or equal to ES,
soil evaporation comes from the snow cover. If ES exceeds the water content of the snow cover, water
is removed from the upper soil layers if available.

3
XXIVth Conference of the Danubian Countries IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 4 (2008) 012002 doi:10.1088/1755-1307/4/1/012002

Potential evapotranspiration is estimated using this method or that of Penman-Monteith [6],

according to data availability. The first method requires only solar radiation, air temperature and
elevation as inputs. The latter requires solar radiation, air temperature, wind speed and relative
humidity as inputs. In this study, the Penman-Monteith method has been used.
The SWIM model provides simulation of vegetation growth in a year using the EPIC method
according to Williams [7]. In this approach the LAI is simulated as a function of heat unit and biomass
in a year [1].

2.2. Soil water content calculation

The computation of soil water content in the hydrological sub-model in SWIM is based on the
following water balance equation:
SW(t 1)  SW( t )  PRECIP  Q  ET  PERC  SSF
(4)
SW(t) the soil water content in the day t,
PRECIP the precipitation,
Q the surface runoff,
ET the evapotranspiration,
PERC the percolation,
SSF the subsurface flow.
The surface runoff volume is estimated by using a modification of the Soil Conservation Service
(SCS) curve number technique [8, 9]. The method of evapotranspiration computation is described
briefly below. The Subsurface Flow is modelled according to Sloan and colleagues [10].
The computation of the soil moisture in a soil profile is done with daily steps for each soil layer in
the soil profile. A storage routing technique is used [11]. The method is based on evaluation of daily
percolation in the soil layer and the soil water content at the beginning and end of the day. The
percolation from the bottom soil layer is treated as recharge to the shallow aquifer. The storage routing
technique is based on the equation:
  t 
SW(t 1)  SW( t ) . exp 
 TT  (5)
SW(t+1); SW(t) the soil water contents at the beginning and end of the day [mm],
t the time interval (24 h),
TT the travel time through layer [h].
The computation follows by determination of the percolation by subtracting SWt from SWt+1 in each
soil layer:
   t  
PERC  SW 1  exp  (6)
  TT  
PERC the percolation rate in each soil layer in [mm.d-1],
TT the travel time is calculated for each soil layer with the linear storage equation:
SW  FC
TT  (7)
HC
HC the hydraulic conductivity in [mm.h-1]
FC the field capacity water content for layer [mm].
The hydraulic conductivity is given by the equation:

 SW 
HC  SC. 
 UL  (8)
SC the saturated conductivity for layer in [mm.h-1],
UL the water content at saturation in [[Link]-1],
 the shape parameter given by the expression:

4
XXIVth Conference of the Danubian Countries IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 4 (2008) 012002 doi:10.1088/1755-1307/4/1/012002

 2.655
 (9)
 FC 
log10  
 UL 
Water flow through a soil layer may occur until the lower layer is not saturated. If the layer below the
layer being considered is saturated, no flow can occur. In this case the percolation is further corrected.

3. The Kysuca River basin

3.1. The river basin description

The Kysuca River basin is located in north-western Slovakia and covers an area of 1016 km2. The
Kysuca River reaches the Vah River near the town Zilina and its length is 66.3 km. The region is
rather mountainous with low population density. A large part of the river basin (654 km2) is protected
within a natural reservation, the Kysuce. About half of the basin is covered by forest (45 % -
coniferous; 12 % - mixed; 43 % - deciduous). The extent of original fir and beech forest is limited.
Dominant ecosystems are monocultures of spruce wood of antropogenic origin, which are less stable
than the natural ones.
The geology is determined by the Carpathian flysh formation. It is a specific formation consisting
of alternating layers of hard sandstones and soft shales. Because of these conditions there is a lack of
groundwater storage. Therefore the spring discharges are low and unsteady. The most extended soil
type in the basin is cambisol.

3.2. Input data for modelling

The distributed model processes a huge amount of data, firstly spatial data describing the river basin,
and secondly the time series of climatic data and discharge at the outlet of the river basin as well.
Four layers of spatial data for the SWIM model are required: a river network and sub-basins, digital
elevation model, soil types and land cover. The hydrological model SWIM simulates water conditions
in several layers of a soil column that is why detailed soil data are required. Nine soil types (four
agricultural and five forest) and eleven vegetation types of land cover in the Kysuca River basin were
defined. The soil types were derived according to their physical characteristics from the Slovakian
land valuation database (BPEJ) in the case of agricultural soils and from the database of forest land
resources in the case of the forest soils (figure 2, figure 3 and figure 8).

5
XXIVth Conference of the Danubian Countries IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 4 (2008) 012002 doi:10.1088/1755-1307/4/1/012002

Figure 2. Sub-basins and gauge stations in the Kysuca River basin

Figure 3. Digital elevation model of the Kysuca River basin

These geographic data were handled by GIS technology. Finally all the layers were converted into
raster forms and subsequently into a text format that the SWIM required as input. During the GIS
process hydrotops were defined by overlaying the four input layers of spatial data.
The climate data necessary to drive the model are precipitation, minimum, maximum and average
temperature and solar radiation. The model requires the input of the meteorological data mentioned
above for each sub-basin in a daily step. Nevertheless, there are only nine precipitation gauge stations
providing rainfall data and one climatic station (Čadca) providing temperature, radiation and air

6
XXIVth Conference of the Danubian Countries IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 4 (2008) 012002 doi:10.1088/1755-1307/4/1/012002

humidity measurement, as well as rainfall data. Therefore it was necessary to interpolate the variables
over sub-basins.
The model was calibrated and validated taking into account discharge at the outlet (Kysucké Nové
Mesto) of the Kysuca basin.

4. Simulations and results

4.1. Calibration of the model

The model was calibrated and validated between 1995 and 1999. The simulated and observed
discharges at the outlet gauge station were compared (figure 4). Nash Sutcliffe efficiency was 0.82 per
calibration period and 0.80 per validation period. The water balance in the calibration period was 5 %
and in the validation period 6 %. The output of the model could be described as satisfactory.
The model represents low flows better. There are some differences in high flows, especially in
extreme peaks. The discrepancy could be connected with the problems of soil characteristic
determination for the model. Field works have proved there are a huge number of rock fragments
(skeleton) in the soil, which has been not included in the model soil parameterisation. There is no
model parameter that can describe the amount of these fragments in the soil. The model could
therefore underestimate high flow and overestimate soil water capacity owing to the overestimation of
the real soil depth.

observed Q simualted Q

1000
900
800
700
600
Q [m .s ]
3 -1

500
400
300
200
100
0
97
6

96

97
/9

/9

/9

/9

/9

/9

/9

/9

/9

/9
1/
1/

7/
/1

/1

30

31

30

30

29

29

28

27
3/
/3

/2
11

12

1/

3/

4/

5/

6/

7/

8/

9/
12

10

Figure 4. Comparison of simulated and observed discharge in daily step at the Kysucke Nove Mesto

4.2. Soil water content simulations

Soil water content is not a regularly measured physical quantity. Nevertheless, it is one of the limiting
factors of the growth and health of vegetation cover. The main task is to assess the accuracy of the
SWIM model for soil moisture simulation. The simulation should help to explain the relation between
them in any given area during a selected time period. If it is proved, it will be possible to simulate soil
water content and other quantities under changing conditions (climate change or vegetation cover
change.)

7
XXIVth Conference of the Danubian Countries IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 4 (2008) 012002 doi:10.1088/1755-1307/4/1/012002

The plausibility of soil water simulation results was evaluated by comparison with observed values
of the volumetric water content using statistical methods. The monitoring of the soil moisture was
established in May 2007 in eight localities within the Kysuca River basin (see figure 5 or figure 6).
The observations were realised by probes positioned in two depths (15 and 45 cm). They measured
continuously, which means every hour one value was recorded. In addition, selected meteorological
elements (temperature, precipitation, radiation and air humidity) were observed close to the localities
of the measurement.
The soil water content was simulated in two out of five soil layers, namely in the second and the
third, in accordance with the depths of the observations. The model gives results of soil water content
in mm of a water column in each hydrotop. There are 2255 hydrotops defined in the basin. In order to
compare results with the measured data in [%] they had to be recalculated. Two maps, each
representing an average water content of one layer simulated within the period 1995 to 1999, were
created to display the result of the simulation (figure 5). The behaviour of soil moisture within one
year is a subject for further analysis.

8
XXIVth Conference of the Danubian Countries IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 4 (2008) 012002 doi:10.1088/1755-1307/4/1/012002

Figure 5. Map of the simulated average annual soil water content [%] in 15 cm (a) and 45 cm (b)
depth

Besides the assessment of the behaviour of soil moisture in a year the comparison of simulated and
observed data was accomplished (figure 6, figure 7). The observation was carried out by three probes
A, B and C at each location. The pictures show the first results of comparison for the period June-
October 2007 (growing season). The year 2007 is the only year of measurement. Moreover the
comparison is affected by the fact that the tensometers have not been calibrated to the local conditions
yet. The resulting uncertainties have to be taken into account. It has therefore not been possible to
compare the absolute values precisely, but the trends of the simulated and measured soil water content
could be evaluated as satisfactory.
In the upper zone the results of simulation are very good; in the lower zone they are not quite so
good. The divergence of the trend is possibly caused by high ground water levels. Simulated values
present conditions in the whole layer with some thickness on the contrary measurement just in the
point of an exact depth. Another factor could be the absence of information about soil skeletons
among the model inputs, as mentioned above.

measuring in A measuring in B measuring in C simulation in H6

60.00
[%]
50.00

40.00

30.00

20.00

10.00

0.00
6/1/2007
6/8/2007
6/15/2007
6/22/2007
6/29/2007
7/6/2007
7/13/2007
7/20/2007
7/27/2007
8/3/2007
8/10/2007
8/17/2007
8/24/2007
8/31/2007
9/7/2007
9/14/2007
9/21/2007
9/28/2007
10/5/2007
10/12/2007
10/19/2007
10/26/2007

Figure 6. Comparison of observed values of the average daily volumetric water content in the locality
‘Jelitov’ and simulated values in the matching hydrotop (H6) at a depth of 15 cm (June-October 2007
- growing season)

9
XXIVth Conference of the Danubian Countries IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 4 (2008) 012002 doi:10.1088/1755-1307/4/1/012002

measuring in A measuring in B measuring in C simulation in H4

45
[%]
40

35

30

25

20

15

10

0
6/1/2007
6/8/2007
6/15/2007
6/22/2007
6/29/2007
7/6/2007
7/13/2007
7/20/2007
7/27/2007
8/3/2007
8/10/2007
8/17/2007
8/24/2007
8/31/2007
9/7/2007
9/14/2007
9/21/2007
9/28/2007
10/5/2007
10/12/2007
10/19/2007
10/26/2007
Figure 7. Comparison of observed values of the average daily volumetric water content in the locality
‘Zborov’ and simulated values in the matching hydrotop (H4) at a depth of 45 cm (June-October 2007
-growing season)

4.3. Evapotranspiration simulations

Actual evapotranspiration was simulated in each hydrotop for the period 1995-1999. The average
annual values of actual evapotranspiration were obtained in mm of a water column. Then it was
analysed how the results spatially correspond to data elements entering the model (namely the
geographical data about soils and land use - see maps in figure 8). The results generally correspond to
those of Tomlain [11], who states that the annual average evapotranspiration in the region of north-
western Slovakia varies from less than 400 mm to more than 450 mm depending on elevation above
sea level. Actual evapotranspiration increases with increasing amounts of precipitation up to a certain
level. After that it decreases owing to lack of energy caused by increasing cloud amounts and relative
air humidity, rising numbers of days with snow cover and fall in air and soil temperatures.

10
XXIVth Conference of the Danubian Countries IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 4 (2008) 012002 doi:10.1088/1755-1307/4/1/012002

11
XXIVth Conference of the Danubian Countries IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 4 (2008) 012002 doi:10.1088/1755-1307/4/1/012002

Figure 8. Comparison of the map of the average annual evapotranspiration (a) with the map of land
use (b) and the soil map (c)

For an evaluation of the percentage of hydrotops in each category of land use and each soil group,
see figure 9 and figure 10.

100
90
Percentage of hydrotops [%]

80
70
367-400 [mm]
60 401-450 [mm]
50 451-500 [mm]
40 501-550 [mm]
551-600 [mm]
30
20
10
0
)
t
dy

st

st

il
y

nd

t
en

es
w

re
sid
str

so
re
re
bo

do
la

tu

or
em

fo
fo
du

t-a

re
as

sf
op

ea
er

ttl

ba
in

r
ed
se

(p

fe
(m

ou
cr
at

se

ix

ni
w

du
m
d

sla

co
sla

ci
as

de
as

gr
gr

Land use

Figure 9. Percentage of hydrotops in each type of land use in categories of the annual average
evapotranspiration

12
XXIVth Conference of the Danubian Countries IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 4 (2008) 012002 doi:10.1088/1755-1307/4/1/012002

The figures have verified that values of evapotranspiration depend considerably on the type of land
use as was expected. The values of evapotranspiration increase according to density of vegetation and
the highest ones are reached over forested areas and naturally water bodies.

100
90
Percentage of hydrotops [%]

80
70
367-400 [mm]
60 401-450 [mm]
50 451-500 [mm]
40 501-550 [mm]
551-600 [mm]
30
20
10
0

9
5

7
_1

_2

_3

_4

st_

st_

st_
st_

st_
re

re

re

re

re

re

re
re

re
tu

tu

tu

tu

fo

fo
fo

fo

fo
ul

ul

ul

ul
ric

ric

ric

ric
ag

ag

ag

ag

Soil type

Figure 10. Percentage of hydrotops of each soil in categories of the annual average evapotranspiration

The effect of the characteristics of individual soil types on the evapotranspiration does not seem to
be significant. More important is the presence or absence of forest in the hydrotop. The very high
percentage of the lowest evapotranspiration category in the type ‘agriculture_1’ is probably caused by
the fact that it is very rich in sand (85 %) and by the very small area it takes over (small number of
hydrotops).

5. Conclusion
It appears that the SWIM model is a good tool for analysis of hydrological conditions in a river basin.
Apart from simulation of discharge it is possible to simulate other variables in various time and spatial
steps. The outputs can be visualised by use of further statistical software and GIS.
The pleasing ability of the SWIM model to simulate rainfall-runoff processes in the Kysuca River
basin was proved by the simulation of discharge at the outlet. It can be assumed that other simulated
variables, soil water content and evapotranspiration in this study, are also computed, satisfactorily.
This assumption is supported by the establishment of expected relations between evapotranspiration
and land cover.
To improve the results of the simulations, the calibration of the sensors in the field should help.
Including information about the amount of rock fragments in the soil column in the SWIM model will
be attempted.
Obtained results of simulation can then be processed in the further study on the health of vegetation
cover and its revitalisation.

13
XXIVth Conference of the Danubian Countries IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 4 (2008) 012002 doi:10.1088/1755-1307/4/1/012002

Acknowledgements
The study was supported by the research grant GA AS CR KJB300600602 and the Institutional
Research Plan AV0Z20600510.

References
[1] Krysanova V, Müller – Wohlfeil D I and Becker A 1998 Development and test of spatially
distributed hydrological/water quality model for mesoscale watersheds Ecological Modelling
106 216-289
[2] Neteler M and Mitasova H 2004 Open Source GIS - A GRASS GIS Approach vol 689 (Boston,
Dordrecht, London: Kluwer Academic Publishers) p.464
[3] Ritchie J T 1972 A model for predicting evaporation from a row crop with incomplete cover.
Water Resources Res. 8 1204-13
[4] Richardson C W and Ritchie J T 1973 Soil water balance for small watersheds Trans. ASAE
16(1) 72-77
[5] Priestley C H B, Taylor R J 1972 On the assessment of surface heat flux and evaporation using
large scale parameters Monthly Weather Review 100 81-92
[6] Monteith J L 1965 Evaporation and environment Symp. Soc. Exp. Biol. 19 205-234
[7] Williams J R, Renard K G and Dyke P T 1984 EPIC – a new model for assessing erosion´s
effect on soil productivity Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 38(5) 381-383
[8] USDA, Soil Conservation Service 1972 National Engineering Handbook, Section 4, Hydrology
(Washington D.C.)
[9] Arnold J G, Williams J R, Nicks A D and Sammons N B 1990 SWRRB – A Basin Scale
Simulation Model for Soil and Water Resources Management (Texas A&M University Press,
College Station, TX.) p 255
[10] Sloan P G, Morre I D, Coltharp G B and Eigel J D 1983 Modeling Surface and Subsurface
Stormflow on Steeply-sloping Forested Watershed (Water Resources Inst. Report 142).
(Lexington: Univ. Kentucky)
[11] Tomlain J 2003 Potential and actual evapotranspiration on the territory of Slovakia for a period
1951 to 2000 Evaporation and evapotranspiration: Proc. Int. Research Workshop (Brno,
CZ, 23 March 2005) ed Rožnovsky J and Litschmann T [in Slovak]

14