1. Application of Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to suppress wildfire at Bayam Forest, Turkey
- Author
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Aydin Tufekcioglu, Mehmet Yavuz, P. Koutalakis, Mustafa Tufekcioglu, George N. Zaimes, Musa Dinc, Tüfekçioğlu, Mustafa, Yavuz, Mehmet, and Tüfekçioğlu, Aydın
- Subjects
Hydrology ,ArcSWAT model ,Environmental Engineering ,Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis ,Fire management ,0208 environmental biotechnology ,Soil science ,Wildfire suppression ,02 engineering and technology ,Toxicology ,Hydrological modeling ,020801 environmental engineering ,Soil water ,Environmental science ,Digital elevation model - Abstract
Authors would like to thank the Central Finance and Contracts Unit (CFCU) in TURKEY and the EU INTERREG IV "Black Sea Basin Joint Operational Programme 2007-2013" framework that funded this project. In addition. we would like the staff members of the Kastamonu Regional Directorate of Forestry. Yasar Cakiroglu, Muzaffer Buyukterzi and Hidayet Kavi for their generous help and support. Aim: Readily available water resources are a key for wildfire suppression. Hydrologic models are a practical and essential tool for understanding the processes of hydrology and managing water resources, but have not been utilized as frequently for wildfire suppression. The goal of the present study was to use the Soil WaterAssessment Tools (SWAT) model to determine whether the stream water could be managed sustainably in wildfire suppression at the Bayam Forest District in Kastamonu Province, Turkey. Methodology: As an input file, the SWAT model used soils, land-uses, weather data and morphology of watershed based on the Digital Elevation Model (DEM). The model was applied for period 2001-2013 in order to predict the water budget of the study area and major streams within the studied district. Results: The analysis of the hydrologic water budget indicated that 70% (573.8 mm) of the annual precipitation (822 mm) was lost as evapotranspiration in the basin, whereas 19%, 34% and 47% of the remaining total water yield (234.6 mm) contributed to streams via surface runoff, groundwater flow and lateral flow, respectively. Interpretation: Overall, the result of SWAT model indicated to a certain degree promising findings on the availability of stream water and optimal placement of water reservoir for the use of wildfire suppression.
- Published
- 2017
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