Developing and Applying a QGIS-Based Model That Accounts for Nonpoint Source Pollution Due to Domestic Animals

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The study focuses on the improved version of the Spreadsheet Tool for Estimating Pollutant Loads (STEPL) model for modeling Nonpoint Source Pollution due by Domestic Animals. This topic comes under the purview of the journal. However, the current version of the manuscript needs appropriate modifications so that it could be made to justify the recommendation for publication.

 

• SWAT depends upon the soil, LULC and slope, for HRU creation,  in this study slope component is not discussed, even DEM and LULC images of the watershed are not presented, why?

• See the statement [The model was applied from January 2016 to December 2020; the monthly flows in 273 watersheds ranged from 0.08 x 106 m3 to 49.71 x 106 m3.] at line 274, the total area of the watershed is 12.87 km square, how it is possible the monthly flow range in digit 49710000 cubic meter? If it needs some clarification, rewrite it for easy understanding.

• The discussion and conclusion sections are merged, see the author guideline for headings, A publication's Discussion section should include a summary of the paper's main findings, explain where those findings fit into the larger body of scientific research and talk about any problems with the study or differences between its findings and those of other published works.

• It is stated that [The NEW model was calibrated using data from January 2016 to December 2017 for 289 the monthly flow rate and NPS pollutant loads. The model was validated for the period January 2018 to December 2020].

 

It's a standard practice to calibrate a model with a large dataset and validate with fewer data, in the current case only 2 years of data were used for calibration and 3 years of data were used for validation. Don't you think the fewer data in calibration will cause less exposure of the model to unseen data?

 

Author Response

Dear the reviewer,

Thank you for reviewing the manuscript.

Please see the revision in the manuscript and the responses to your valuable comments in the attached file.

 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

General Comments:

The research article is designed to study the “Developing and Applying a QGIS-Based Model that Accounts for Nonpoint Source Pollution due to Domestic Animals”.

The authors discussed watershed management by taking into account both the water quantity and quality of watersheds. Additionally, they consider various watershed conditions to understand the effects on water quantity and quality.

The discrepancies in the article are mentioned below to improve its quality.

Revisions:

The article abstract needs revisions. Summarize each section of the article very well. Kindly clearly mention the highlighted results of the article.

The introduction section needs extensive revisions with more citations of the relevant references. The authors must include one more paragraph with the latest reference of the study.

Try to make a colorful picture of the figure-4.

In figure-6, try to adjust the figure-6 (a, b, c, and d) with equal size. You can place a landscape page here for clear understanding of the readers. Because these are your main figures.

The main concern is about the article discussion which is very limited. Kindly mention the separate heading of the discussion and provide latest reference about the study.

 

The article conclusion also need revisions. 

Author Response

Dear the reviewer,

Thank you for reviewing the manuscript.

Please see the revision in the manuscript and the responses to your valuable comments in the attached file.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

The manuscript may be accepted