View article

Northeastern Brazil is hydrologically characterized by recurrent droughts leading to a highly vulnerable natural water resource system. The region contains the Caatinga biome, covering an area of approximately 800 000 km². To increase insight in water balance components for this sparsely studied ecosystem, hydrology simulations were performed with the SWAP (Soil Water Atmosphere Plant) model for a Caatinga basin of 12 km². SWAP model was developed to simulate hydrology under short‐cycle crops, and its parameterization and validation to a diverse ecosystem is a novelty. The validation of the simulations was performed using a dataset of daily soil water content measurements taken at 0.2 m depth in three sites in the basin in the period from 2004 to 2012. Average Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency coefficient for these simulations was 0.57 and root mean square error of prediction was 4.3%. The results of the …