Distributed modelling at catchment scale

Access to high-resolution elevation models creates the conditions for identifying how water and dissolved and suspended substances in the water move in the landscape using so-called distributed modeling. Distributed modelling facilitates the development of a discussion base regarding selection and implementation of the measures to reduce nutrient losses. In other words, the purpose of high-resolution distributed modelling is to highlight the paths of water in the landscape and hydrological connections between different landscape compartments and thereby create a basis for discussion about local-specific measures, a concept that we call “the right measure in the right place”!

We have developed several models under the umbrella of distributed modeling.

The USPED model (Unit Stream Power-based Erosion Deposition; Mitasova, 2001) is an empirical model for identifying erosion and deposition areas within a catchment area with a high resolution, i.e. individual fields or parts of fields can be identified and ranked according to their vulnerability. Using USPED, we have calculated the erosion risk for arable land throughout southern Sweden (Djodjic and Markensten, 2019). An updated version of the calculation will be produced in 2025 (Djodjic and Markensten, 2025).

The erosion risk map for the catchment area Norrström can be viewed in our storymap "Rätt åtgärd på rätt plats" (in Swedish)

Through the web page of the Swedish Board of Agriculture  can the erosion risk maps be downloaded. There you also find links to other services where the maps can be viewed. 

We have also used a dynamic version of USPED to model transport of suspended solids in small agricultural streams (Sandström, 2022; Sandström et al. 2023).

The figure illustrates the methodology and the results of the FLOODtool modeling (Djodjic et al. 2025).

Distributed modeling was further applied to calculate the optimal location and size of constructed wetlands in the landscape (Djodjic et al., 2020) as well as to estimate the cost-effectiveness of existing wetlands (Djodjic et al., 2022).

In an ongoing project (PuddleJump), distributed modeling (FLOODtool) was used to quantify the landscape's potential to store water and therby mitigate both flooding and nutrient losses (Djodjic et al., 2025).

References

Djodjic, F., P. Geranmayeh, E. E. Lannergård, and M. Futter. 2025. Estimating landscape-level water storage potential as a tool to mitigate floods and nutrient losses. Journal of Environmental Management 388:126055. 

Djodjic, F., and H. Markensten. 2025. Identifying waterlogging on arable fields - combining high-resolution distributed modelling and satellite images.in Land Use and Water Quality - Agriculture and the Environment, Volume of Abstracts., Aarhus, Denmark.

Sandström S., Markensten H., Futter M.N., Kyllmar K., O’Connell D.W., Bishop K. and Djodjic F. 2023. Distributed dynamic modelling of suspended sediment mobilization and transport from small agricultural catchments. Front. Environ. Sci. 11:1196048. 

Sandström, S. 2022. Sources, composition and transport of fluvial suspended sediment and attached phosphorus in agricultural catchments : a cross-scale analysis. Acta Universitatis Agriculturae Sueciae, 2022:49. Sveriges lantbruksuniviversitet.

Djodjic, F., P. Geranmayeh, D. Collentine, H. Markensten, and M. Futter. 2022. Cost effectiveness of nutrient retention in constructed wetlands at a landscape level. Journal of Environmental Management 324:116325.

Djodjic, F., P. Geranmayeh, and H. Markensten. 2020. Optimizing placement of constructed wetlands at landscape scale in order to reduce phosphorus losses. Ambio 49:1797–1807. 

Djodjic, F. & H. Markensten. 2019. From single fields to river basins: Identification of critical source areas for erosion and phosphorus losses at high resolution. Ambio 48: 1129-1142. 

Djodjic, F. 2008. Identifiering av riskområden for fosforförluster i ett jordbruksdominerat avrinningsområde i Dalarna. Institutionen för miljöanalys, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet, Rapport 2008:5. 

Mitasova, H, Mitas, L & Brown, WM. 2001. Multiscale Simulation of Land Use Impact on Soil Erosion and Deposition Patterns. In Stott, DE, Mohtar, RH & Steinhardt, GC (eds). Sustaining the Global Farm. Selected papers from the 10th international Soil Conservation Meeting.