d50
Median particle size of suspended and benthic sediment
SWAT+ calculates the median sediment particle diameter for impoundments located within a landscape unit using the equation
d50=exp(0.41∗100mc+2.71∗100msilt+5.7∗100ms) where d50 is the median particle size of the sediment (µm), mc is percent clay in the surface soil layer, msilt is the percent silt in the surface soil layer, and ms is the percent sand in the surface soil layer.
Because reservoirs are located on the channel network and receive sediment from the entire area upstream, defaulting the sand, silt, and clay fractions to those of a single LSU or HRU in the upstream area is not appropriate. Instead, the user may set the median particle size diameter to a representative value.
The table below lists the D50 values of different sediment classes:
Sediment class
Size [µm]
Approximate size