An open source QGIS-based workflow for model application and experimentation with aquatic ecosystems

Abstract We present the new Water Ecosystems Tool (WET), a workflow implemented (as a plugin) in QGIS, for application and evaluation of aquatic ecosystem models. WET provides a Graphical User Interface (GUI) for the coupled one-dimensional hydrodynamic-ecosystem model GOTM-FABM-PCLake. WET is unique as it enables a standardized and easy-to-use workflow for an otherwise complex model application and is readily applicable to any individual lake and reservoir in the world. WET integrates a platform for model experimentation through scenario simulations – currently encompassing changes in climate and nutrient loads. WET also includes a link to the SWAT (Soil & Water Assessment Tool) watershed model, which can be used to simulate how land use changes affect aquatic ecosystems. The tool is open source and may therefore be readily expanded and adapted for additional model experimentations.

[1]  W. Mooij,et al.  Climate Change Will Make Recovery from Eutrophication More Difficult in Shallow Danish Lake Søbygaard , 2016 .

[2]  Karsten Bolding,et al.  A general framework for aquatic biogeochemical models , 2014, Environ. Model. Softw..

[3]  Christelle Vancutsem,et al.  GlobCover: ESA service for global land cover from MERIS , 2007, 2007 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium.

[4]  David P. Hamilton,et al.  A community-based framework for aquatic ecosystem models , 2011, Hydrobiologia.

[5]  J. Janse,et al.  Model studies on the eutrophication of shallow lakes and ditches , 2005 .

[6]  J. Janse,et al.  PCLAKE: a modelling tool for the evaluation of lake restoration scenarios , 1995 .

[7]  Luuk P. A. van Gerven,et al.  FABM-PCLake – linking aquatic ecology with hydrodynamics , 2016 .

[8]  Dennis Trolle,et al.  Predicting the effects of reduced external nitrogen loading on the nitrogen dynamics and ecological state of deep Lake Ravn, Denmark, using the DYRESM–CAEDYM model , 2008 .

[9]  John R. Williams,et al.  LARGE AREA HYDROLOGIC MODELING AND ASSESSMENT PART I: MODEL DEVELOPMENT 1 , 1998 .

[10]  Dennis Trolle,et al.  Effects of climate and nutrient load on the water quality of shallow lakes assessed through ensemble runs by PCLake. , 2014, Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America.

[11]  K. Miyakoda,et al.  A General Circulation Model for Upper Ocean Simulation , 1988 .

[12]  Raghavan Srinivasan,et al.  Introducing a new open source GIS user interface for the SWAT model , 2016, Environ. Model. Softw..

[13]  Jeffrey G. Arnold,et al.  Soil and Water Assessment Tool Theoretical Documentation Version 2009 , 2011 .

[14]  David P. Hamilton,et al.  Challenges and opportunities for integrating lake ecosystem modelling approaches , 2010, Aquatic Ecology.

[15]  Hans Burchard,et al.  Comparative Analysis of Four Second-Moment Turbulence Closure Models for the Oceanic Mixed Layer , 2001 .

[16]  J. Thepaut,et al.  The ERA‐Interim reanalysis: configuration and performance of the data assimilation system , 2011 .

[17]  Andrea Leone,et al.  Assessment of Open Source GIS Software for Water Resources Management in Developing Countries , 2010 .

[18]  J. Kondo,et al.  Air-sea bulk transfer coefficients in diabatic conditions , 1975 .