Application of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) at Field Scale: Categorizing Methods and Review of Applications

Highlights This review study identified five different ways of setting up a SWAT model for field-scale analysis. Model setup for each field-scale modeling method and examples of application are discussed. Benefits and limitations of each method are discussed. Abstract. Although the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) has been widely used as a watershed/basin scale model, recently there has been considerable interest in applying it at the field scale, especially for evaluation of best management practices and for building stakeholder confidence. In this study, a thorough review of the literature on field-scale application of SWAT was conducted. It was determined that there is more than one way of setting up a field-scale SWAT model depending on the spatial scale of the research as well as the research question to be answered. This article provides a detailed review of the methods used for field-scale SWAT modeling along with a summary of applications. This article also discusses the limitations and advantages of each method along with future research needs. The overarching goal of this article is to provide a valuable and time-conserving resource for future researchers interested in field-scale SWAT modeling.