Crowley et al. (2026) Uncertainty Analysis of Internal Hydrological Processes in Two Agricultural Catchments in Ireland via Stochastic Calibration of SWAT +

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Hydrological Processes
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-04-01
• Authors: Rodhraí Crowley, Joe Harrington
• DOI: 10.1002/hyp.70509

Research Groups

[Not available from the provided abstract.]

Short Summary

This study propagates parameter uncertainty from streamflow calibration to quantify and analyze the uncertainty of hydrological fluxes via different pathways in two Irish agricultural catchments. It identified lateral flow as a key pathway in the Bandon Catchment and agricultural tile drainage in the Owenabue Catchment, providing a more comprehensive understanding of streamflow generation and associated process uncertainty.

Objective

• To propagate parameter uncertainty from stochastic model calibration for river discharge simulation to quantify, analyse and compare the modelled uncertainty of hydrological fluxes via different pathways and provide more robust insights into hydrological processes.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Two agricultural catchments in Ireland: River Owenabue (143 km²) and River Bandon (598 km²).
• Temporal Scale: Daily (for river discharge simulation).

Methodology and Data

• Models used: SWAT+ (Soil and Water Assessment Tool Plus); SUFI-2 procedure in R-SWAT for stochastic calibration.
• Data sources: Observed daily river discharge data for model calibration and evaluation.

Main Results

• The SWAT+ model achieved satisfactory performance for predicting daily mean river discharge in both study catchments.
• Uncertainty analysis of hydrological fluxes identified lateral flow as an important hydrological pathway, particularly in the Bandon Catchment.
• Agricultural tile drainage was identified as an important hydrological pathway in the Owenabue Catchment.
• The quantification and comparison of lower and upper bound hydrological pathway contributions provided a comprehensive understanding of specific hydrological processes driving streamflow generation and the degree of uncertainty associated with individual processes.

Contributions

• Extends uncertainty analysis to internal model surface and subsurface hydrological processes, which is less commonly practiced.
• Demonstrates a method for quantifying and comparing lower and upper bound hydrological pathway contributions, offering a more comprehensive understanding of streamflow generation and associated process uncertainty.
• Presents an approach that is transferable to other hydrological models, optimisation methods, and catchments in different hydroclimatic regions.

Funding

[Not available from the provided abstract.]

Citation

@article{Crowley2026Uncertainty,
  author = {Crowley, Rodhraí and Harrington, Joe},
  title = {Uncertainty Analysis of Internal Hydrological Processes in Two Agricultural Catchments in Ireland via Stochastic Calibration of <scp>SWAT</scp> +},
  journal = {Hydrological Processes},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1002/hyp.70509},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.70509}
}