BEGINNER SWAT

TRAINING MANUAL

Sisay Kebede
Email: kenasisay@gmail.com
 Table of Contents

SECTION 1........................................... 1
SWAT OVERVIEW

SECTION 2 .......................................... 21
GIS and ARCSWAT installing

SECTION 3 .......................................... 93
WATERSHED DELINEATION

SECTION 4 ............................................... 1
HYDROLOGIC RESPONSE UNIT (HRU)ANALYSIS

SECTION 5 ............................................... 1
WRITE INPUT TABLES FOR SWAT

SECTION 6 ............................................... 1
EDIT SWAT INPUT

SECTION 7 ............................................... 1
SWAT SIMULATION

SECTION 8 ............................................... 1
EXPORT RESULT AND VISUALIZATION
Introduction

The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) is a physically-based continuous-event hydrologic model developed to predict the

impact of land management practices on water, sediment, and agricultural chemical yields in large, complex watersheds with varying

soils, land use, and management conditions over long periods of time. For simulation, a watershed is subdivided into a number of

homogenous subbasins (hydrologic response units or HRUs) having unique soil and land use properties. The input information for

each subbasin is grouped into categories of weather; unique areas of land cover, soil, and management within the subbasin;

ponds/reservoirs; groundwater; and the main channel or reach, draining the subbasin. The loading and movement of runoff, sediment,

nutrient and pesticide loadings to the main channel in each subbasin is simulated considering the effect of several physical processes

that influence the hydrology. For a detailed description of the capabilities of the SWAT, refer to Soil and Water Assessment Tool User’s

Manual, Version 2000 (Neitsch et al., 2002), published by the Agricultural Research Service and the Texas Agricultural Experiment

Station, Temple, Texas. The manual can also be downloaded from the SWAT Web site (www.brc.tamus.edu/swat/swatdoc.html#new).

Objectives
The objectives of this exercise are to

1. Setup a SWAT project and

2. Familiarize with the capabilities of SWAT

Create a Project
ArcSWAT extension of ArcGIS 10 creates an ArcMap project file that contains links to your retrieved data and incorporates all

customized GIS functions into your ArcMap project file. The project file contains a customized ArcMap Graphical User Interface (GUI)

including menus, buttons, and tools. The major steps on how to create a SWAT project under then ArcMap environment are introduced

below:

Step 1. Start ArcMap. Under the Customize menu of ArcMap View,

click the Extensions button. You will see an extension entitled

“SWAT Project Manager” and “SWAT Watershed delineator”

under the extensions list (Figure 1). Turn on these two

extensions.

Step 2. Go to the Customize menu of ArcMap, hover the mouse over

the Toolbar button, a list of tools will appear. Click the

ArcSWAT tool, the main interface of ArcSWAT will open

Figure 1 Extensions of ArcMap

 Figure 2 Startup of ArcSWAT Interface

Figure 3 Create a new SWAT project and Setup

working directory and Geodatabases

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Step 3. Create a new SWAT project and Setup working directory and Geodatabases
• Click the New SWAT Project button under then SWAT Project Setup menu. In the prompted dialog entitled “Project
Set Up” (Figure 3), Select a Project Directory for current project. The names of SWAT Project Geodatabase and
Raster Storage Geodatabase are initialized automatically. These two Geodatabases will be created under the
Project Directory.
• The SWAT Parameter Geodatabase stores the parameters that are needed for SWAT model run. The directory of
this Geodatabase is provided by the interface, users should not change this value.
• Click OK after you setup a project. Then a new SWAT project will be created under the Project Directory (Figure 4).
The SWAT project includes two folders, two geodatabases, and one <Project Directory>.mxd file. The < Project
Directory >.mxd file is the file that is currently in use by the user.

Figure 4 The structure of SWAT project directory

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Watershed Delineation

After setup of a new SWAT project, activate the Automatic Watershed Delineation button under the Watershed Delineator menu
by clicking this button. The Watershed Delineation tool will appear (Figure 2). The tool‘s functions are divided into five sections,
namely: DEM setup, Stream Definition, Outlet and Inlet Definition, Watershed Outlet(s) Selection and Definition. This tool is used to
create watershed delineations using a combination of DEM, digitized network (RF1 or RF3, NHD or User defined), and other user
inputs. The detailed procedures on how to use the Watershed Delineation tool are introduced in the following sections:

Figure 2 Watershed Delineation main dialog

Step 1: Add DEM Grid

1. Click the icon to add the DEM grid to be setup for modeling with
SWAT. A dialog box (Figure 3) with options Select from Watershed
View and Load DEM grid from disk is opened. Choose Load DEM
grid from disk and select the dem grid located in your disk (the
directory is “C:\AVSWATX\AvSwatDB\Example1” for this example) and
click ADD. The selected dem will be resaved as <Project
Directory>\RasterStore.mdb\SourceDem, which is loaded into the
ArcMap. Figure 3 Projection properties of DEM
Note: the selected dem file must have an effective projection. If
not, an error dialog will prompt.
2. After loading dem, the button will be activated. Using this button,
the user can check the projection information of the dem (Figure 4).
The DEM properties box lets you verify that the DEM map properties
are correct and make any needed changes. The DEM properties
should correctly define the grid size and units. The user can change
the Z unit to reflect the real situation.

Step 2: Focusing on Watershed Area

The interface allows users to import or create a grid map that masks out a part Figure 4 Projection properties of DEM
of the DEM grid and/or a shape map that defines the stream network. These
maps are not required but might speed the processing time for the GIS operations.

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 1. Click beside Mask, then three options are available to specify the
watershed area of interest (Figure 5): Load mask grid from disk,
manually delineate and Select boundary theme from basins view.
Select the Load mask grid from disk option and click OK. Select the
mask grid located in your disk, and click ADD. The selected dem will be
resaved as <Project Directory>\RasterStore.mdb\Mask, which is loaded
into the ArcMap (Figure 7).
2. If you selected the Manually Delineate option, then a toolset will appear and allow
you draw polygon mask (Figure 6). A toolbar with three buttons, DRAW, EDIT
VERTEX and DELETE appears. These tools provide the capability similar to
drawing and editing a polygon theme in ArcMap. Figure 5 Options to define Mask
Click on the DRAW button to manually trace the boundary of the watershed area

of interest using the mouse. Double click the mouse left button to complete the

polygon. EDIT Vertex will allow you to adjust the boundary of the mask.

The DELETE Button will allow you to select the entire polygon for deletion using

the “Delete” function in your Keyboard. Click APPLY after you are satisfied with

the manually drawn masking area. This will create a masking grid (MASK) and
Figure 6 Toolset for Manually
add the theme to the Watershed View. Mask Delineation

Note:
1. If a mask grid already exists, you can select Load mask grid from the disk option. The grid will be added to the Basins view and used
for delineation.
2. A polygon theme already in the Basins View can be selected as a mask, using the Select boundary theme from the Basins view option.

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 Masked area

Figure 7 DEM grid added to ArcMap View with a mask area

Note:
❖ You can exit the main Watershed Delineation Dialog anytime and open it again by selecting AUTOMATIC
DELINEATION from the WATERSHED DELINEATOR menu.

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Step 3: Burning in a stream network
A stream network theme such as Reach File (V1 or V3) or National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) can be superimposed onto the DEM
to define the location of the stream network.

Step 4: Stream Definition

(Note: For the Stream Definition function of the Watershed Delineator, there are two ways to define the watershed and stream
network. In this section, the method-based threshold area will be introduced, while another method based on pre-defined watershed
will be introduced in Appendix I.)

1. In order to use the threshold method to delineate the watershed and stream network, the Flow Direction and Accumulation

needs to be calculated by clicking the button. Stream definition defines both the stream network and subbasin outlets.
A minimum, maximum, and suggested sub watershed area (in hectares) is
shown in the drainage area box (Figure 8). You have the option of changing the
size of the subbasins within the specified range of values. This function plays
an important role in determining the detail of the stream network and the size and Figure 8 Threshold area for stream
and subbasin definition
number of subbasins created. The threshold area defines the drainage area
required to form the beginning of a stream.

2. After setting the threshold value of subbasin, then the user can delineate the stream network and outlets through clicking the

button. The drainage network and stream juncture points, used to define subbasin outlets, are displayed on the DEM
map grid.

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Figure 9 Drainage network and subbasin outlets

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Next step is Outlet and Inlet Definition

3. Figure 10). Before proceeding, you have a number of options: (1) change the threshold area and rerun the stream and outlet
definition routine, (2) add outlet points by importing a table that contains the locations, (3) add outlet points manually, and (4)
remove outlet points. Assuming the outlet and stream definition to be acceptable proceed to inlet definition for the study area.
Inlets represent any point source loading into the study area or the inlets of drainage into the watershed from an upstream
area.

Figure 10 Options for defining Outlet and Inlet

Note
❖ By specifying the threshold area, we define the stream network for networking.
❖ It means that a minimum number of cells are required to start delineating the stream.
❖ The minimum threshold area is for the entire watershed, not for each sub watersheds that are going to be delineated.
❖ The suggested area given in this window is the average are that could be used.

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Step 5: Main Watershed Outlet(s) Selection and Definition

In this step the users will select one or more outlet locations to define the boundary of the main watershed.

Click on the SELECT button to choose the watershed outlet. Draw a box covering the desired outlet locations will set the main
Watershed Outlets. In this example, select 1 outlet at the downstream edge of the masked area (

1. Figure 11) and click the Delineate Watershed button . Select YES in the following dialog to continue with the delineation
of main watershed and subbasins. A prompt box will appear to announce completion of the watershed and subbasin
delineation.
2. The delineated watershed with subbasins will be added to the View. If the delineation is not satisfactory or if the user wants to
select a different outlet for the watershed, click on the Cancel Selection button and repeat.

Click on the Calculate Subbasin Parameters button to estimate the subbasin parameters. This function calculates
basic watershed characteristics from the DEM and sub-watershed themes. It also assigns the necessary subbasin
identification. The results of the calculations are stored as additional fields in the streams and subbasins theme database
files. Click OK to completion of watershed delineation dialog box.

3. Figure 12 shows the delineated watershed with subbasins.

4. Open the Reach or Watershed attribute tables to view the calculated characteristics.

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** By holding the SHIFT key in your keyboard, you can select more than one outlet. This feature allows adjacent watershed to be
simulated at the same time using SWAT. Do not select an outlet at the upstream of another outlet. At least one outlet must be
selected for delineation.

Selected outlet

nivasan@tamu.edu Texas A & M University

Figure 11 Main watershed outlet selection

Figure 12 Delineated watershed and subbasins

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Land use, Soil and Slope Definition

The Land Use, Soil and Slope Definition option in the HRU Analysis menu allows the user to specify the land use, soil and slope
themes that will be used for modeling using SWAT and NPSM. These themes are then used to determine the hydrologic response
unit (HRU) distribution in each sub-watershed.

Both NPSM and SWAT require land use data to determine the
area of each land category to be simulated within each subbasin.
In addition to land use information, SWAT relies on soil data to
determine the range of hydrologic characteristics found within
each subbasin. Land Use, Soil and Slope Definition option
guides the user through the process of specifying the data to be
used in the simulation and of ensuring that those data are in the
appropriate format. In particular, the option allows the user to
select land use or soil data that are in either shape or grid
format. Shapefiles are automatically converted to grid, the
format required by ArcGIS to calculate land use and soil
distributions within the subbasins of interest. Select the Land
Use / Soil / Slope Definition option from the HRU Analysis
menu. The Land Use / Soil / Slope Definition dialog box
(Figure 13) will open. The detailed procedures on how to use the
functions contained in this dialog were introduced below:
Figure 13 Dialog for Land Use / Soil / Slope Definition

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Step 1: Define Land use theme

1. Select the land use data layer by clicking on the open file folder button next to “Land Use Grid.”
2. A “Set the Landuse Grid” dialog box will appear (Figure 14). You will have the option to “Select Land use layer(s) from the
Map” or “Load Land Use dataset(s) from disk”. Select the Load Land Use
dataset(s) from disk option and click Open. Click Yes for the projection
information dialog box.
3. Select the Landuse grid file in the work directory and click Select. A message
box will indicate the successful loading of landuse theme.

Figure 14 Dialog for options of selecting landuse data

4. After loading the Landuse file into the map, choose the grid field which will
be used as index to define different landuse types. In this example, the
“Value” field is selected. Click OK, then a table titled “SWAT Landuse
Classification Table” will be created automatically by the interface (Figure
15). The first column contains the unique values in the Grid Field chosen
above. The second column contains the area of each type of landuse. And
the third column contains the landuse names in the SWAT database
corresponding to each index value.

Figure 18 SWAT Landuse Classification Table

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5. In order to fill correct values in the third column, the land use grid codes must be assigned a land cover/plant description. You
may import a look-up table or manually assign a land cover/plant code. The
interface includes tables that convert the USGS land use/land cover
classification codes to SWAT land cover/plant codes. If the land use grid being
used is classified by an alternate method, you must create a look-up table or
enter the information manually.
6. Select the land use look-up table by clicking on the open “Look-up Table”
button next to “Table Grid Values –> Land cover classes.” A “Land Cover
Lookup Table” dialog box will appear (Figure 19 ).
7. When the user has land use data and the corresponding four character land
use code, the “User Table” option should be selected. Figure 19 Land cover lookup table options
8. Select User defined lookup table in .txt or .dbf format (the ASCII .txt lookup
table was shown in(Figure 21), then the SWAT LandUse Classification Table will
be populated (Figure 16).
9. Click Reclassify button. Then Landuse map will be reclassified according the
Lookup table. The reclassified landuse map is shown in Figure 18.

Figure 16 Populated SWAT Landuse Classification Table

Accessing “User Table” from the Landuse and soil definition dialog box:
➢ The user defined table has to be created in the format as shown in figure below:

Figure 17 ASCII (.txt) table format of lookup table

Note:
1. To manually create a look-up table, double click on the “LandUseSwat” field next to the first category number in the dialog. A
dialog box will appear listing the two database files from which a SWAT land type may be selected: Land Cover/Plant and Urban.
Select the desired database file by clicking on it. Click OK. A dialog box will appear listing the available SWAT land cover codes or
the available SWAT urban land type codes. Select the desired code from the list and click ok. Repeat this procedure for all the
values in the grid.
2. If you do not find the desired land cover in the database, you will have to add the land cover class to the database too.
Figure 18 Reclassified land use grid
Step 2: Specify soils theme
1. Select the soils data layer by clicking on the open file folder button
under “Soil Grid” in the “Soil Data” tab (Figure 19).
2. A “Select Soils Data” dialog box appears. You have the option to Select
Soil layer(s) from the Map or Load Soils dataset(s) from disk or Load
ArcSWAT US STATSGO from disk. Select the Soil map from the disk
and load it to the map. A message box will indicate the successful loading
of the soil grid theme.
3. After loading the Soil file into the map, choose the field which will be used
as the index to define different soil types. In this example, the “Value” field
is selected. Click OK, then a table titled “SWAT Soil Classification Table”
will be created automatically by the interface. The first column contains the
unique values in the Grid Field chosen above. The second column
contains the area of each soil type. And the third column contains the soil
names in the SWAT database corresponding to each index value, which
need to be filled through a Lookup table.

The soil map grid must be linked to the U.S. soils database (provided with the
interface) or to the User Soils (customized) database. Under “Options,” click the
button beside the method used to link the soils map grids to the soils data. There
are five options available: Figure 19 Interface for setting the soil data
• Stmuid: State STATSGO polygon number, dominant soil phase
• S5id: Soils5ID number for USDA soil series data
• Name: Name of soil in User Soils database
• Stmuid + Seqn: State STATSGO polygon number and sequence number of soil phase

• Name + Stmuid: State STATSGO polygon number and soil series name
4. Select Stmuid, then load look up values for the soil grid file and click the Reclassify button for soils grid. The reclassified
soils grid (Figure 20) is shown in the map.

Figure 20 Soils grid theme reclassified by State MUID class

Step 3: Specify slope theme

Slope is an important factor that determines the water, sediment and

nutrients movement. In this new version interface, a new function is
added to take slope into account to delineate HRU. The general
procedures for defining a slope theme will be introduced below.

1. Click the “Slope” tab, then the interface for defining slope theme
appear (Figure 21). There are two options for slope discretization:
“Single Slope” and “Multiple Slope” The “Single Slope” option
denotes that the mean value of slope will be used for for the whole
watershed, whilethe “Multiple Slope” option will allow slope be
classified into several level.

If the “Multiple Slope” option was selected, the user need to define
the “Number of Slope Classes”, and the range (Lower Limit and
Upper Limit) of each slope class. At last the slope classification
results will be stored in the “SWAT Slope Classification Table”.
Click “Reclassify”, the classified slope layer will be added to the map
(Figure 26).

Figure 21 Populated SWAT Slope Classification Table

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Figure 22 Slope grid theme reclassified by user defined criteria

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Step 4: Overlay land use, soil and
slope layers

When the land use, soil and slope

layers have all been classified, the
OVERLAY button will be activated.
Click this button; all the three grid
layers will be overlaid. When the
overlay process is completed, an “Info”
message box will appear. Click OK to
proceed the delineation of hydrologic
response units (HRUs). Figure 23
shows the units with unique
combination of landuse, soil, and slope
within each subbasin. This layer will be
used later in defining HRU.

Step 5: View land use, soil and slope

distribution report
Figure 23 Shape file layer of the units with unique combination of landuse, soil and slope
within each subbasin
View the area and percentage distribution

of each land use and soil class within each subbasin by clicking the HRU Analysis Reports button under the HRU analysis menu

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 Hydrologic Response Unit Definition
Before executing SWAT, the distribution of hydrologic response units (HRUs) within
the watershed must be determined based on the land use, soil and slope layers
specified in the previous step. The interface allows the user to specify criteria to be
used in determining the HRU distribution. One or more unique land use/soil/slope
combination(s) (hydrologic response units or HRUs) can be created for each subbasin.

Subdividing the watershed into areas having unique land use, soil and slope
combinations enables the model to reflect differences in evapotranspiration for various
crops and soils. Runoff is predicted separately for each HRU and routed to obtain the
total runoff for the watershed. This increases accuracy and gives a much better
physical description of the water balance.

Click the HRU Definition button under the HRU Analysis menu. This will open a
“HRU Definition” dialog (Figure 24). The user has two options in determining the HRU
distribution: assign a single HRU to each subbasin or assign multiple HRUs to each
subbasin. If a single HRU per subbasin is selected, the HRU is determined by the
dominant land use/soil/slope combination within each subbasin. If multiple HRUs are
selected, the user may specify the several criteria for the land use, soil and slope data
that will be used to determine the number and type of HRUs in each subbasin. The
Figure 24 HRU definition dialog
procedures on how to use this tool are introduced below:
Step 1: Hydrologic Response Unit Definition
1. Select the Multiple Hydrologic Response Units option. Modify the
threshold land use/soil/slope area percentage (%) over subbasin
area to define how detailed the watershed will be represented.
Select the desired threshold values for soil, land use and slope (for
example 10% for land use/soil/slope).
2. Now you can click the “Create HRUs” button to delineate HRU
distribution. Also, you can go to the Land Use Refinement tap to
specify more detailed criteria. There are two ways to refine the
definition of HRU. The first one is to split one land use type into two
or several sub land use types. For example, the AGRL land use type
can be split into two sub types: AGRL (50%) and AGRR (50%). The
other option is to set one land use type exempt, which mean that this
type of land use will exempt of the area threshold value set in
previous steps. In this example, the settings of these two functions
are shown in Figure 25.
3. After creating HRUs, the distribution report for the HRUs can open
through clicking the HRU Analysis Reports button under the HRU Figure 25 Interface for Land use refinement
Analysis menu.
4. If the distribution is not satisfactory, repeat the preceding steps,
altering the land use and soil sensitivities, until a satisfactory
distribution is obtained.
Figure 26 HRU definition dialog, land use refinement

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Note for HRU distribution
❖ Selecting Multiple Hydrologic response units option allows us to eliminate minor land uses in each subbasin.
❖ For example, if we set the threshold for Landuse (%) over subbasin area to 15% landuse that occupy less than 15% of
subbasin area would be eliminated and the HRU will be created for landuse that occupy greater than 15% of the subbasin
area.
❖ The same holds for Soil and slope layer.

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Write Input Tables for SWAT
This menu contains functions to build database files that include information needed to generate default input for the SWAT model.
The commands on the menu need to be implemented only once for a project. However, if the user modifies the HRU distribution after
building the input database files, these commands must be reprocessed again.

Step 1: Define Weather data

1. Select the Weather Stations button under the Write Input
Tables menu. A “Weather Data Definition” dialog is opened
(Figure 27). This dialog will allow the user to define the input
data for rainfall, temperature and other weather data. For
weather data, you have the option of simulating the data in
the model or to read from data tables. If no observed weather
data is available, then information can be simulated using a
weather generator based on the data from 1041 weather
stations around the US or combination of WBAN (Weather
Bureau Army Navy) and Cooperative stations for four 30-year
Figure 27 Weather Data definition dialog
periods stored in a database or custom weather data can be
input through a database table. The weather generator data

must be defined before you can continue to define the other data, like precipitation and temperature.
2. Select the “WGEN_US_FirstOrder” option for Weather Generator Data to add the weather simulation database automatically.
3. Under the “Rainfall data” tab, select the “Raingages” option for rainfall data. Browse to the Work Directory and choose the
file pcpfork.txt and click Add.

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 4. Under the “Temperature data” tab, select the “Climate Stations” radio button option for temperature data. Browse to the Work
Directory and choose the file tmpfork.txt and click Add.

5. After selecting the rainfall, temperature and weather generator data, click OK to generate the SWAT weather input data files.
The locations of weather generator, rainfall and temperature gages will be displayed in the map view (Figure 28).
6. A message box will indicate successful generation of SWAT weather input database.

At this point you have the option to generate all the input data files using the WRITE ALL option under the INPUT menu or generate
each input file separately. The input files needed are:

• Watershed Configuration file (.fig) • Pond input (.pnd)

• Soil data (.sol) • Management Input (.mgt)
• Weather generator data (.wgn) • Main channel data (.rte)
• General HRU data (.sub) • Ground water data (.gw)
• Soil chemical input (.chm) • Water use data (.wus)
• Stream water quality input (.swq)

Note

In the new version of ArcSWAT (2012), the user can modify the weather data files later without rewriting the input
tables. In the previous version (2009) the input files needed to be rewritten after weather data modification and the
model parameterizations set to the default values.

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Figure 28 Location of weather stations

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Step 2: Write All (Figure 29)
1. Select the Write SWAT Database Tables option under the Write Input Tables menu.
2. A “Current Status of Input Data” dialog appears. This window shows the
list of input files to be generated and the status of input file generation.
Click Select All and Create Tables.
3. For the management input file generation a message prompt verifies if
the US weather database is sufficient to estimate the Plant Heat Units.
Click Yes if the study area is within US.
4. A message box indicates the successful completion of input files
generation.

Figure 29 Write all input files status dialog

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Edit SWAT Input

The commands listed under the Edit SWAT Input menu bring up dialog boxes that allow you to alter default SWAT input data. The
Edit SWAT Input menu can be used to make input modifications during the model calibration process. In this exercise you are not
required to edit any input information.

However a general procedure is given to familiarize you with the SWAT input files
and editing capabilities in ArcSWAT.

Step 1: Editing Databases

1. Select the Edit Databases button under the Edit SWAT Input menu. You
will be given a list of options to choose the databases to be edited (Figure 30).
Step 1-1: Edit Soils database (Figure 31) Figure 30 List of SWAT databases
1. Select User Soils option, and click OK.

2. “User Soils Edit” dialog box with a list of abbreviated soil names appears. Click on a soil name to edit the entire soil profile
data or individual soil layer information.
3. You can also add new soil into the database by clicking on the Add New button in the bottom of the “Add and Edit User Soil”
dialog box.
4. Click EXIT after completion of editing the database. A prompt box will give you the option to save or ignore the changes made
to soils database.
By using a procedure similar to editing soils database, the Database option under the Edit Input menu you can edit or add
information to the weather, land cover/plant growth, fertilizer, pesticide, tillage, and urban area databases.

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 Figure 31 Edit soils database dialog

Note:
• Moving the mouse pointer near an object (text box, radio button etc.,) in any of the edit input dialog box will display a short
description of the parameter contained in the object.

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Step 2: Edit Point Discharge Inputs
1. Select the Point Sources Discharges option under
the Edit SWAT Input menu. “Edit Point Source
Inputs” dialog box (Figure 32) with a list of subbasins
containing point discharges will appear.
2. Click on the subbasin number whose point
discharge database needs to be edited. A “Point
Discharges Data” dialog box appears with the list of
attributes of the point data. The dialog box allows
the input of point source data in one of four formats:
constant daily loadings, average annual loadings,
average monthly loadings, and daily loadings.
3. Choose a format by clicking the button next to the
format to be used. The default point source data
format option is constant daily loadings. If you
select this format, you will have the option of either
inputting average daily flow (m3/s), sediment loading Figure 32 Edit Point Discharge Inputs Dialog
(tons), and organic N, organic P, NO3, mineral P

loadings (all in kg), three conservative metals, and 2 categories of bacteria or load PCS data directly. If you select the
“Annual Records” option you will be prompted to load the data from disk by clicking on the open folder button or from PCS by
clicking on the Load PCS button. If you select the “Monthly Records” or “Daily Records” option you will be prompted to load
data from the disk. Click OK to complete the editing of point discharges database for a subbasin.

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 4. If you wish to edit the point sources in another subbasin, select it from the list in the “Edit Point Source Inputs” dialog box.
Click Exit to complete editing of point discharges database in all subbasins.

Step 3: Edit Inlet Dischargers Input

1. Select the Inlet Discharges option under the Edit
Input menu
2. If there are any inlet dischargers in the project, “Edit
Inlet Input” dialog box with a list of subbasins containing
inlet dischargers will appear (Figure 33).
3. You will be able to modify the inlet input information
using a procedure similar to editing the point
dischargers database
4. The dialog box allows the input of inlet discharge data
in one of four formats: constant daily loadings, average
annual loadings, average monthly loadings, and daily
loadings. Choose a format by clicking the button next to
the format to be used.
5. The default inlet discharge data format option is
constant daily loadings. If you select this format, you will be Figure 33 Edit Inlet Discharge Inputs Dialog

prompted to input average daily flow (m3), sediment loading (tons), and organic N, organic P, NO3 and mineral P loadings.
6. If you choose “Annual Records”, “Monthly Records” or “Daily Records” option you will be prompted to load the data from the
disk.
7. Click OK to complete the editing of inlet discharges for a subbasin.

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 8. If you wish to edit the inlets in another subbasin, select it from the list in the “Edit Inlet Discharger Input” dialog box. Click Exit
to complete editing of inlet dischargers input in all subbasins
9. Since there are no inlet dischargers defined in this tutorial you will get a message “No Inlet Discharges in the Watershed”

Step 4: Edit Reservoir Input

1. To edit the reservoirs, on the Edit Input menu, select Reservoirs. A dialog box will appear with a list of the subbasins
containing reservoirs.
2. To edit the reservoirs within a subbasin, click on the number of the subbasin in the “Edit Reservoirs Inputs” dialog box.
3. Since there are no reservoirs defined in this project you will get a message “No Reservoirs in the Watershed”.

Step 5: Edit Subbasins Data

1. To edit the subbasin input files, select the Subbasins Data
option under the Edit Input menu. “Edit Subbasin Inputs”
dialog box will appear (Figure 37).
This dialog box contains the list of subbasins, land uses, soil
types and slope levels within each subbasin and the input
files corresponding to each subbasin/land use/soil/slope
combination. To select an input file, select the subbasin, land
use, soil type and slope that you would like to edit. When you Figure 34 Edit Subbasin Inputs main dialog
select a subbasin, the combo box of land uses, soil types, and

slope levels will be activated in sequence. Specify the subbasin/land use/soil combination of interest by selecting each
category in the combo box.

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2. To edit the soil physical data, click on the .sol extension, and select the subbasin number, landuse type, soil type and slope
level. Then the OK button is activated. Click OK; a new dialog box will appear (Figure 35). Click the Edit Values button; all the
boxes are activated and the user can revise the default values.
3. The interface allows the user to save the revision of current .sol file to other .sol files. Three options are available: 1) extend
edits to current HRU, which is the default setting, 2) extend edits to all HRUs, or 3) extend edits to selected HRUs. For the
third option, the user needs to specify the subbasin number, landuse type, soil type and slope levels for the HRUs that the
user wants to apply current .sol file parameters.

Figure 35 Edit soil input file dialog

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4. To edit the weather generator data click on the .wgn extension. For the .wgn file you only need to select the subbasin
number, and then the OK button will be activated. Click OK; a new dialog box (Figure 36) will appear which will allow you to
modify the data in .wgn file. Similar to .sol file, the interface also allow the user to extend the current edits to other subbasins.
The user can select to 1) extend edits to current Subbasin, which is the default setting, 2) extend edits to all Subbasins, or 3)
extend edits to selected Subbasins.

Figure 36 Edit weather generator input file main dialog

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5. To edit general subbasin data, click on the sub
extension in the “Select Input File”. Select the subbasin
number and click OK, then a new dialog box will appear
displaying the existing general subbasin data for the
selected subbasin (Figure 37). To modify data, activate all
fields by clicking Edit Values button. For the elevation
band parameters, the user can choose ELEVB,
ELEVB_FR and SNOEB in the combo box beside the
Elevation Band, and then change the parameter values
for each band. In this version (ArcSWAT2012) the user
can modify the snow parameters over the elevation
bands while in the previous version the snow
parameters were constant across the entire watershed.
Also, the user can choose RFINC, TMPINC, RADINC,
HUMINC in the combo box aside of Weather
Adjustment, then change the parameter values for each
month. Once you have made all editing changes, click
the OK button. The interface will save all changes and
return you to the “Edit Subbasin Inputs” box. The user can Figure 37 Edit Subbasin (Sub) dialog
select to 1) extend edits to current Subbasin, which is the

default setting, 2) extend edits to all Subbasins, or 3) extend edits to selected Subbasins. For selecting multiple subbasins,
hold the Shift key when clicking the preferred subbasin numbers.

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6. To edit general HRU data, click on the hru
extension in the “Select Input File” section of the
“Edit Subbasin Inputs” dialog box (Figure 38). A
new dialog box will appear displaying the
existing general HRU data for the selected
subbasin. To modify data, activate a field by
positioning the cursor over the text box and
clicking. Once a cursor appears in the field,
make the desired changes. Once you have
made all editing changes, click the OK button.
If you do not want to copy the edited HRU
generator data to other data sets, click No on
the prompt dialog. In this version of ArcSWAT
two new modules: Carbon and Urban BMP, and
Drainage parameters can be modified in the
HRU scale by user.

Figure 38 Edit Hydrologic Response Units (HRU) dialog.

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7. To edit the main channel input file, click on the rte in the “Select Input file” section of “Edit Subbasin Inputs” dialog box. A new
dialog box (Figure 39) will appear with the existing main channel data for the selected subbasin. Click Edit Values button to
activate all the textboxes to all user’s modification. Also, the user can extend current edits to other basins with three types of
options.

Figure 39 Edit Main channel input data dialog

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8. To edit the ground water input file, click on the .gw in the “Select Input file” section of “Edit Subbasin Inputs” dialog box. In the
dialog box that opens (Figure 40) with the existing data, make modifications by clicking Edit Values button to activating all
textboxes. Similarly, after the modification, the user has three options to Save Edits to other HRUs.

9. To edit the consumptive water, use input data, click on the. wus in the “Select Input file” section of “Edit Subbasin Inputs”
dialog box. In the dialog box (Figure 41) that opens with the existing data, click Edit Values button, then the user can modify
the data. Also the current edits can be saved to other subbasins.

Figure 40 Edit Ground Water input data dialog

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 Figure 41 Edit water use input data dialog

10. To edit the management file input data, click on the .mgt in the “Select Input file” section of “Edit Subbasin Inputs” dialog box.
A new dialog box (Figure 42) will appear and display the management data editor. This dialog has two tabs: General
Parameters and Operations. In the first tab the user can modify the general parameters concerned with Initial Plant Growth,
General Management, Urban Management, Irrigation Management, and Tile Darin Management. In the second tab, the user
can arrange the detailed management options on the current HRU. The management operations can be scheduled by Date
or by Heat Units. The settings of the management operations can also be extended to other HRUs that the user has defined.

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Figure 42 Edit management input file main dialog

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11. To edit the soil chemical data, click on the .chm in the “Select Input file” section of “Edit Subbasin Inputs” dialog box. A new
dialog box (Figure 43) will appear displaying the Soil Chemical data editor. To modify the displayed data, click the Edit Values
button to activate all the textboxes. After the modification of Soil Chemical Data, the user also can extend the modification to
other user specified HRUs.

Figure 43 Soil chemical input data editor

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12. To edit pond data, click on the. pnd in the “Select Input file” section of “Edit Subbasin Inputs” dialog box. A new dialog box
(Figure 44) will appear displaying the pond data editor. To modify the displayed data, click the Edit Values button to activate all
the textboxes. After the modification of pond data, the user also can extend the modification to another user specified
Subbasins.

Figure 44 Dialog to edit pond input data file

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13. To edit stream water quality input data file, click on the. swq in the “Select Input file” section of “Edit Subbasin Inputs”
dialog box. A new dialog box (Figure 45) will appear displaying the stream water quality input data editor. To modify the
displayed data, click the Edit Values button to activate all the textboxes. After the modification of stream water quality
input data, the user also can extend the modification to another user specified Subbasins.

Figure 45 Stream water quality input data editor

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14. To edit septic input data file, click on the. sep in the “Select Input file” section of “Edit Subbasin Inputs” dialog box. A new
dialog box (Figure 45) will appear displaying the septic input data editor. To modify the displayed data, click the Edit Values
button to activate all the textboxes. After the modification of septic input data, the user also can extend the modification to
another user specified Subbasins.

Figure 46 Septic input data Editor

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15. To edit Operations input data file click on the. sep in the “Select Input file” section of “Edit Subbasin Inputs” dialog box. A new
dialog box (Figure 45) will appear displaying the septic input data editor. To modify the displayed data, click the Edit Values
button to activate all the textboxes. After the modification of septic input data, the user also can extend the modification to
another user specified Subbasins.

Figure 50 Operations parameters Editor

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 Step 6. Edit Watershed Data
1. Go to the Watershed Data item under the Edit SWAT Input menu, and click the General Data (.BSN) button, then
a new dialog (Error! Reference source not found.) will appear.

This interface allows you to modify the parameters concerned with three major groups:
1) Water Balance, Surface Runoff, and Reaches,
2) Nutrients and Water Quality, and
3) Basin-wide Management. After revision of the parameters, click Save Edits.

Figure 51 General Watershed Parameters Editor

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2. Go to the Watershed Data item under the Edit SWAT Input menu, and click the Water Quality Data (.WWQ)
button, then a new dialog (Figure) will appear. This interface allows you to modify the parameters concerned with
Watershed Water Quality Simulation. After revision of the parameters, click Save Edits.

Figure 52 Watershed Water Quality Parameters

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3. Go to the Watershed Data item under the Edit SWAT Input menu, and click the Land Use Update (.LUP) button, then
a new dialog (Figure ) will appear. This interface allows you to modify the parameters concerned with Watershed
Water Quality Simulation. After revision of the parameters, click Save Edits.

Figure 53 Watershed Land Use Update

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SWAT Simulation Setup

SWAT simulation menu contains commands that setup and run SWAT simulation. To build SWAT input files and run the simulation,
proceed as follows:

Step 1: Setup data and Run SWAT

1. Select the Run SWAT command under the SWAT Simulation menu. It will open a dialog box (Figure 55) that will allow you to
set up the data for SWAT simulation.

Figure 55 SWAT data setup and simulation dialog

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 2. Select the 1/1/1977 for the “Starting date” and 12/31/1978 for the “Ending date” option. If you are using simulated rainfall
and temperature data, both these fields will be blank and you have to input the information manually.
3. Choose “monthly” option for Printout Frequency
4. Keep the rest at the default selections.
5. After all the parameters have been set, click the Setup SWAT Run button in the “Run SWAT” dialog box (Figure ) to build the
SWAT CIO, COD, PCP.PCP and TMP.TMP input files. Once all input files are setup, the Run SWAT button is activated in the
bottom right of the Run SWAT dialog.
6. Click the button labeled Run SWAT. This will run the SWAT executable file. A message box will indicate the successful
completion of SWAT run.

Step 2: Read SWAT Output

1. On the SWAT Simulation menu, click Read SWAT Output (Figure 56).
2. A dialog box will be brought up (Figure 57)

Figure 56. SWAT Simulation menu

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3. To view the “Output.std” file, click the Open output.std button.
4. To view the “Output.std” file, click the Open output.std button.
5. To import selected SWAT files into an Access database, check
the checkboxes associated with the output files of interest, and
then click the Import Files to Database button. The selected
output files will be converted to Access database tables in the
“workdirectory\SWAT_Demo\Scenarios\Default\TablesOut\SwatO
utput.mdb”.
6. To perform simple check to identify potential model problems,
click the “SwatCheck” button.
7. Now, save the current SWAT simulation as “Sim1”
8. Type in a name (e.g. Sim1) for the current run
9. The button Save Simulation is activated now. You need to save
the current setting of the SWAT project to another folder. Click
Figure 57. Dialog of saving SWAT run
the Save Simulation button, and input “Sim1” as the name of
current SWAT Run. Click OK. Then the interface will copy the files
under “workdirectory\SWAT_Demo\Scenarios\Default” to
“workdirectory\SWAT_Demo\Scenarios\Sim1”. And a dialog will
appear to notify you that the current SWAT run has been saved as
“Sim1” (Error! Reference source not found.).

Figure 58. Dialog of successfully saved SWAT run

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Step 3: Set Default Simulation
To choose saved simulation (Sim1) to be set as the current default simulation and input dataset, proceed as follows:
1. On the SWAT Simulation menu, click Set Default Simulation (Figure 59).
2. A dialog box will be displayed (Figure 60)
3. Choose a saved simulation “Sim1” from the Select Simulation box to set as the
default simulation and click the Copy to Default button. The current SWAT project
geodatabase and the contents of the
“Default\TxtInOut\” folder are overwritten with the geodatabase found in the
Figure 59. SWAT Simulation menu
“TablesIn\” folder and the “TxtInOut\” folder contents from the selected

simulation respectively. A dialog will appear to notify you that the current SWAT run will be replaces by the saved simulation
“Sim1” (Error! Reference source not found.).

Figure 60. SWAT Simulation menu Figure 61. Replacing the default simulation with the saved simulation

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 System Requirements
Installing ArcSWAT
The SWAT2012/ArcSWAT 2012.10_0.1 Beta8 Interface requires:

Hardware:

• Personal computer using a Pentium IV processor or higher, which runs at 2 gigahertz or faster
• 1 GB RAM minimum
• 500 megabytes free memory on the hard drive for minimal installation and up to 1.25 gigabyte for a full installation
(including sample datasets and US STATSGO data)

Software (ArcSWAT 2012.10_0.1 for ArcGIS 10 version):

• Microsoft Windows XP, or Windows 2000 operating system with most recent kernel patch*
• ArcGIS-ArcView 10 with service pack 5 (Build 4400)
• ArcGIS Spatial Analyst 10 extension
• ArcGIS Developer Kit (usually found in C:\Program Files\ArcGIS\DeveloperKit\)
• ArcGIS DotNet support (usually found in C:\Program Files\ArcGIS\DotNet\)
• Microsoft .Net Framework 2.0
• Adobe Acrobat Reader version 7 or higher

Microsoft constantly updates the different versions of windows. This interface was developed with the latest version of Windows
and may not run with earlier versions. Patches are available from Microsoft.

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Using the ArcSWAT Setup Wizard:

After downloading the ArcSWAT program, open the ArcSWAT_Install_1.0.0 folder. Click the icon to begin
installation. Follow the installation wizard instructions.

Select the appropriate folder location for the program, preferably the computer’s main hard drive. Click the Disk Cost button to ensure enough disk space
for installation.
Indicate if program access will be for everyone who uses the computer or just the installer.

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Follow the wizard instructions until installation is completed successfully.

Make sure the SWAT_US_Soils.zip file is also downloaded and unzipped under ArcSWAT\databases directory

Note:
• After installation is complete, check that the downloaded data is located in the correct location:
C:\Program Files\ArcSWAT\Databases\ and contains both the SWAT2012.mdb and SWAT_US_Soils.mdb databases.
R. Srinivasan, r-srinivasan@tamu.edu Texas A & M University 6