Modelling phosphorus loss from agricultural catchments : a comparison of the performance of SWAT, HSPF and SHETRAN for the Clarianna catchment

Much research in Europe at present has been directed at generating and assessing modelling tools for use in catchment management, driven by the requirements and schedule of the Water Framework Directive. A logical first step is to assess the suitability of existing models for this task so that any resources used in generating new models can be targeted at actual modelling needs. Crucial questions, relating to the model structure and complexity and spatial and temporal scales required must also be addressed. This paper reports a comparison of the performance and suitability of three "off-the-shelf" distributed catchment models, each with a different level of complexity, applied to modelling phosphorous losses from the Clarianna catchment in Ireland. In this paper, the performance of three such models (SWAT, HSPF and SHETRAN/GOPC) is compared, both in estimating discharges and phosphorous loads in the Clarianna catchment. The flow comparison has showed that the HSPF model was the best in simulating the mean daily discharges. However, the best calibration results for daily total phosphorus loads in the study catchment has been achieved by the SWAT model.