Sediment Yield Assessment and Erosion Risk Analysis Using the SWAT Model in the Amman–Zarqa Basin, Jordan
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Methodology
2.1. Study Site Description
2.2. Input Data Preparation for SWAT Model
2.3. SWAT Model Parameterization for Sediment Yield Simulation
2.4. Sediment Data
- 1992–1993 “Spike”: A significant flood or extreme weather event may have caused a surge in both water flow and sediment transport.
- 2005–2006 “Peak in Flow”: Another high-flow event occurred, but sediment yield did not rise proportionally, suggesting potential sediment control measures or changes in land use.
2.5. Model Calibration and Validation for Streamflow
2.6. Time-Series Diagnostics (RAPS, ITA and Pettitt)
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Sensitivity Analysis and Uncertainty Assessment
3.2. Calibration and Validation
3.3. Time-Series Trend and Change-Point Analysis Top of Form
3.4. Sediment Hotspots and Implementation of the SLM
- Contour plowing in the areas of slope < 10%
- No-till in the areas of slope < 10%
- Stone wall terracing in the areas of slope > 10%
4. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Abbreviations
| Variability ratio | |
| ALPHA_BF | Base Flow Alpha Factor |
| ARS | Agricultural Research Service |
| ASA | ArcGIS Spatial Analysis |
| AWC | Available Water Capacity |
| AZB | Amman-Zarqa Basin |
| Bias ratio | |
| BMP | Best Management Practices |
| C | Cover management factor |
| CFRG | Coarse fragment factor |
| CN | Curve Number |
| CN2 | Curve Number (Moisture Condition II) |
| DEM | Digital Elevation Model |
| ESCO | Soil Evaporation Compensation Factor |
| ET | Evapotranspiration |
| GSFLOW | Groundwater and Surface-water FLOW model |
| GW_DELAY | Groundwater Delay |
| GWQMN | Threshold Depth of Water in the Shallow Aquifer for Return Flow |
| HEC-RAS | Hydrologic Engineering Center–River Analysis System |
| HRUs | Hydrologic Response Units |
| JWWTP | Jerash Wastewater Treatment Plant |
| k | Position in the time series |
| K | Pettitt test statistic |
| KTD | King Talal Dam |
| LS | Slope length and steepness |
| Mean | |
| MCM | Million Cubic Meters |
| MIKE-SHE | Modeling System for Hydrology and Environment |
| MODFLOW | Modular Three-Dimensional Finite-Difference Ground-Water Flow Model |
| MUSLE | Modified Universal Soil Loss Equation |
| MWI | Ministry of Water and Irrigation |
| NDVI | Normalized Difference Vegetation Index |
| NSE | Nash–Sutcliffe Efficiency |
| Oi | Observed value of variable i |
| PBIAS | Percent Bias |
| PET | Potential Evapotranspiration |
| Pi | Simulated value of variable i |
| Linear correlation coefficient | |
| R | Peak runoff |
| R2 | Coefficient of determination |
| RAINHHMX | Maximum Half-Hour Rainfall |
| Standard deviation | |
| sgn | Sign function |
| ITA Trend Indicator (Slope Index) | |
| SLM | Sustainable Land Management |
| SSE | Sum of Squared Errors residuals |
| SWAT | Soil and Water Assessment Tool |
| SWAT-CUP | SWAT Calibration and Uncertainty Programs |
| SWWTP | Samra Wastewater Treatment Plant |
| t | Candidate Change-Point position |
| USLE | Universal Soil Loss Equation |
| USLE_K | Soil erodibility factor |
| USLE_P | Support practice factor |
| Value at time | |
| WGEN | Weather Generator |
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| No. | Meteorological Station Type | ID | Station Name | Longitude | Latitude | Percentage of Missing Data * |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rainfall | AD0018 | Ibbin | 35.81369 | 32.3609 | - |
| 2 | Rainfall | AL0003 | Bal’ama | 36.08764 | 32.23574 | - |
| 3 | Rainfall | AL0005 | Kitta | 35.84177 | 32.27509 | - |
| 4 | Rainfall | AL0012 | Sukhna | 36.06542 | 32.12949 | - |
| 5 | Rainfall | AL0015 | Zarqa | 36.08916 | 32.0644 | - |
| 6 | Rainfall | AL0016 | Ruseifa | 36.04108 | 32.01693 | - |
| 7 | Rainfall | AL0017 | Sweilh | 35.84002 | 32.02261 | - |
| 8 | Rainfall | AL0018 | Jubeiha | 35.86649 | 32.02428 | - |
| 9 | Rainfall | AL0026 | Burma | 35.78305 | 32.22127 | - |
| 10 | Rainfall | AN0002 | Wadi EsSir | 35.81837 | 31.95057 | - |
| 11 | Rainfall | AN0003 | Na’ur | 35.82843 | 31.87387 | - |
| 12 | Rainfall/Climate | AL0019 | Amman Airport | 35.9878 | 31.97489 | 7% |
| 13 | Rainfall/Climate | AL0035 | King Hussein Nursery (Baq’a) | 35.84571 | 32.08029 | 1% |
| 14 | Rainfall/Climate | AL0053 | King Talal Dam | 35.83166 | 32.19399 | 38% |
| 15 | Rainfall/Climate | AL0057 | Natural Resources Authority | 35.84696 | 31.95584 | 86% |
| 16 | Rainfall/Climate | AL0066 | Khirebit Es Samra | 36.14565 | 32.15146 | 13% |
| 17 | Rainfall/Stream flow | AL0004 | Jarash | 35.89488 | 32.27932 | - |
| Dataset | Quantity | Quality Control |
|---|---|---|
| DEM | ~250 m (247.55 × 247.55 m cell size) | Projected to UTM Zone 36N (WGS84); slope reclassified into five classes (0–5%, 5–10%, 10–20%, 20–30%, and >30%) |
| LULC | To be confirmed | Reclassified to the SWAT land-use classes |
| Soil map | 34 coded soil units | Soil classes linked to the SWAT lookup tables and harmonized with GIS layers |
| Rainfall station inventory | 34 rainfall stations | Station IDs, names, coordinates, and annual average precipitation compiled |
| Selected climate stations used in SWAT | 17 weather stations | Missing climatic variables were supplemented using WGNmaker 4.1 where required |
| Hydrological reference station | 1 gauge station | Daily base flow, flood flow, and total discharge were checked for continuity |
| Monthly flow series | Monthly time series | One missing monthly value was identified; the series requires explicit clarification in the text as modeled or observed |
| Weather generator support | WGNmaker 4.1 Tool-based | Used to supplement missing required climatic inputs; not a replacement for observed records |
| Target Variable | Parameter Name * | Description of Parameters | Range Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stream flow parameters | r__CN2.mgt | SCS runoff curve number | −0.6–0.2 |
| v__ALPHA_BF.gw | Base flow alpha factor | 0–1 | |
| v__GW_DELAY.gw | Groundwater delay | 30–450 | |
| v__GWQMN.gw | The threshold depth of water in the shallow aquifer required for return flow to occur | 0–10 | |
| v__ESCO.hru | Soil evaporation compensation factor | 0.8–1 | |
| v__EPCO.hru | Plant uptake compensation factor | 0–1 | |
| v__CH_N2.rte | Manning’s “n” value for the main channel | 0–0.3 | |
| v__CH_K2.rte | Effective hydraulic conductivity in the main channel alluvium | 5–130 | |
| v__APHA_BNK.rte | The baseflow alpha factor for bank storage | 0–1 | |
| r__SOL_AWC().sol | Available water capacity of the soil layer | −0.4–0.4 | |
| r__SOL_K().sol | Saturated hydraulic conductivity | −0.8–0.8 | |
| v__SFTMP.bsn | Snowfall temperature | −5–10 | |
| v__SMTMP.bsn | Snowmelt base temperature | −20–20 | |
| v__SMFMX.bsn | Maximum melt rate for snow during the year (occurs on the summer solstice) | 0–20 | |
| v__SMFMN.bsn | Minimum melt rate for snow during the year (occurs on the winter solstice) | 0–20 | |
| Sediment parameters | r__USLE_K().sol | USLE soil erodibility factor | −0.5–0.7 |
| v__USLE_P.mgt | USLE support practice factor (Slope (10–20)) | 0–1 | |
| v__USLE_P.mgt | USLE support practice factor (Slope (20–30)) | 0–1 | |
| v__USLE_P.mgt | USLE support practice factor (Slope (30–9999)) | 0–1 | |
| r__RAINHHMX().wgn | Maximum 0.5-h rainfall in the entire period of record for the month | −0.5–1.5 | |
| v__SPCON.bsn | Linear re-entrainment parameter for channel sediment routing | 0.0001–0.01 | |
| v__SPEXP.bsn | Exponent parameter for calculating sediment re-entrained in channel sediment routing | 0.5–1.5 | |
| v__PRF_BSN.bsn | Peak rate adjustment factor for sediment routing in the main channel | 0–2 |
| Stream Flow Calibrated Parameters | Sediment Calibrated Parameters | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Parameter Name | Calibrated Value | Parameter Name | Calibrated Value |
| r__CN2.mgt | −0.6 | r__USLE_K().sol | 0.46532 |
| v__ALPHA_BF.gw | 0.68727 | v__USLE_P.mgt | 0.77638 |
| v__GW_DELAY.gw | 263.18 | v__USLE_P.mgt | 0.71922 |
| v__GWQMN.gw | 4.8927 | v__USLE_P.mgt | 0.62451 |
| v__ESCO.hru | 0.8 | r__RAINHHMX().wgn | 1.5 |
| v__EPCO.hru | 0.76254 | v__SPCON.bsn | 0.0001 |
| v__CH_N2.rte | 0.070344 | v__SPEXP.bsn | 0.92879 |
| v__CH_K2.rte | 5.0 | v__PRF_BSN.bsn | 1.0424 |
| v__APHA_BNK.rte | 1 | ||
| r__SOL_AWC().sol | 0.4 | ||
| r__SOL_K().sol | 0.36472 | ||
| v__SFTMP.bsn | 1.8228 | ||
| v__SMTMP.bsn | 13.4 | ||
| v__SMFMX.bsn | 7.3781 | ||
| v__SMFMN.bsn | 13.306 | ||
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AlHalaigah, M.R.; Rahbeh, M.; Alnizami, N.H.; Zoubi, M.M.; Al-Jawaldeh, H.F.; Alsoud, S.H.; Alta’any, Y.A.; Abu-Afifeh, Q.Y.; Brezat, A.; Al-Rkebat, R.; et al. Sediment Yield Assessment and Erosion Risk Analysis Using the SWAT Model in the Amman–Zarqa Basin, Jordan. Hydrology 2026, 13, 107. https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology13040107
AlHalaigah MR, Rahbeh M, Alnizami NH, Zoubi MM, Al-Jawaldeh HF, Alsoud SH, Alta’any YA, Abu-Afifeh QY, Brezat A, Al-Rkebat R, et al. Sediment Yield Assessment and Erosion Risk Analysis Using the SWAT Model in the Amman–Zarqa Basin, Jordan. Hydrology. 2026; 13(4):107. https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology13040107
Chicago/Turabian StyleAlHalaigah, Motasem R., Michel Rahbeh, Nisrein H. Alnizami, Mutaz M. Zoubi, Heba F. Al-Jawaldeh, Shahed H. Alsoud, Yazan A. Alta’any, Qusay Y. Abu-Afifeh, Ali Brezat, Rasha Al-Rkebat, and et al. 2026. "Sediment Yield Assessment and Erosion Risk Analysis Using the SWAT Model in the Amman–Zarqa Basin, Jordan" Hydrology 13, no. 4: 107. https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology13040107
APA StyleAlHalaigah, M. R., Rahbeh, M., Alnizami, N. H., Zoubi, M. M., Al-Jawaldeh, H. F., Alsoud, S. H., Alta’any, Y. A., Abu-Afifeh, Q. Y., Brezat, A., Al-Rkebat, R., El-Mahroug, S. E., Al Qarallah, B., & Alzubaidi, A. J. (2026). Sediment Yield Assessment and Erosion Risk Analysis Using the SWAT Model in the Amman–Zarqa Basin, Jordan. Hydrology, 13(4), 107. https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology13040107

