Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2022-306
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2022-306
30 Sep 2022
 | 30 Sep 2022
Status: a revised version of this preprint was accepted for the journal HESS and is expected to appear here in due course.

Dynamically Coupling System Dynamics and SWAT+ Models using Tinamït: Applications of Modular Tools for Coupled Human-Water Systems Models

Joel Z. Harms, Julien J. Malard, Jan F. Adamowski, Ashutosh Sharma, and Albert Nkwasa

Abstract. Participatory water resources management requires modeling techniques that are accurate and flexible, yet stakeholder-friendly. While different modeling frameworks offer advantages and disadvantages, System Dynamics (SD) models have seen sustained use as a stakeholder-friendly approach for water resources modelling. In contrast, physically-based models are more appropriate to model the hydrological components of coupled human-water systems. Proposed as a way to combine the relative strengths of both modelling paradigms, model coupling allows researchers to build participatory SD models with stakeholders, while delegating the hydrological components of the overall model to an external hydrological model. Recently developed to facilitate model coupling, the Tinamït Python package presents an extensible outward-facing Application Programming Interface (API). It allows for the development of extensions (wrappers) that expand compatibility with different physically-based models. However, no watershed hydrological model has yet been connected to this API. In the present study, a socket and JavaScript Object Notation-based communication protocol was developed with the goal of facilitating the coupling of models written in languages such as FORTRAN. This novel protocol served to develop a Tinamït-compatible wrapper for the hydrological model SWAT+, allowing it to be coupled to human-water SD models. The novel coupling protocol was then applied to a case study of Tanzania’s Usa Basin. This approach provides the modeler with the benefits of both physically-based and SD models, thereby allowing the detection of potential far-reaching effects of policy decisions, within a system that remains flexible and easily adaptable to other watersheds.

Joel Z. Harms et al.

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • RC1: 'Comment on hess-2022-306', Anonymous Referee #1, 12 Oct 2022
    • AC1: 'Reply on RC1', Joel Harms, 31 Jan 2023
  • RC2: 'Comment on hess-2022-306', Anonymous Referee #2, 23 Dec 2022
    • AC2: 'Reply on RC2', Joel Harms, 31 Jan 2023

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • RC1: 'Comment on hess-2022-306', Anonymous Referee #1, 12 Oct 2022
    • AC1: 'Reply on RC1', Joel Harms, 31 Jan 2023
  • RC2: 'Comment on hess-2022-306', Anonymous Referee #2, 23 Dec 2022
    • AC2: 'Reply on RC2', Joel Harms, 31 Jan 2023

Joel Z. Harms et al.

Model code and software

joelz575/tinamit_idm: tinamit-idm Malard, Julien J.; Harms, Joel Z. https://zenodo.org/record/6884987

joelz575/swatplus: None Harms, Joel Z.; Malard, Julien J. https://zenodo.org/record/6902755

joelz575/swatplus-tinamit-coupling: SWAT+/SD Coupling Case-Study Harms, Joel Z.; Malard, Julien J. https://zenodo.org/record/6885087

Joel Z. Harms et al.

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Short summary
To facilitate the meaningful participation of stakeholders in water management, model choice is crucial. Here it is shown how System Dynamics models (SDM), which are very visual and stakeholder-friendly, may be automatically combined with physically based hydrological models that may be more appropriate for modelling the water processes of a human-water system. This allows the building of participatory SDMs with stakeholders, delegating hydrological components to an external hydrological model.