Hydrologic simulation of a neotropical alpine catchment influenced by conductive topsoils in the Ecuadorian Andes

Highly conductive topsoils in neotropical high-elevation grassland-dominated ecosystems, or so-called paramos in the Andean region, influence the local rainfall-runoff processes predominated by saturation-excess overland flow as the primary source of freshwater. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model has shown limitations when applied to mountainous catchments with highly conductive soils that generate surface runoff as saturation-excess overland flow. In this study, we enhanced SWAT to simulate runoff as saturation-excess overland flow and examined the hydrological responses of an intensively monitored paramo catchment in Ecuador. The model setup considered a detailed representation of the hydro-physical properties of the soils at different depths, including high infiltration and lateral flow rates in the hillslopes and restricted groundwater interactions, a characteristic of the páramo catchments. SWAT reasonably reproduced the daily discharge during dry and wet periods and the cumulative occurrence of high and low flows. The performance metrics NSE, RSR, and PBIAS values during calibration/validation period were 0.86/0.84, 0.31/0.4, and −11.2/-7.58, respectively. The runoff ratio and partitioning of the total runoff into the lateral flow and surface runoff were physically meaningful. More significantly, SWAT was able to simulate saturation-excess overland flow, which is dominant compared to infiltration excess, and it is a distinctive characteristic of páramo catchments. Nevertheless, the model showed limitations in simulating low flows.