Input datasets for SWAT+–COCOA modelling and multi-objective optimisation of natural water retention measures

This repository contains input datasets to run and test the field-scale Soil and Water Assessment Tool Plus (SWAT+; version 61.0.64; Arnold et al., 2024) model setup, combined with a multi-objective optimisation framework, as presented in Kolcsár et al. (2026).

The dataset is organized into three main folders:

input_SWATbuildR.zip: Input files for the field-scale SWAT+ setup using the Contiguous-Object COnnectivity Approach (COCOA) (Piniewski et al., 2024; Schürz et al., 2022). The SWATbuildR tool used for model setup is available at: https://github.com/chrisschuerz/SWATbuildR (Schürz, 2022).

input_CoMOLA.zip: Input files for the multi-objective optimisation using the Constrained Multi-objective Optimisation of Land-use Allocation (CoMOLA) framework (Strauch et al., 2019). Scripts for coupling CoMOLA with SWAT+ are available at: https://github.com/michstrauch/CoMOLA_SWATplus (Strauch and Schürz, 2024).

input_ParetoPick_R.zip: Input files for interactive exploration of optimisation results using the ParetoPick-R interface. The software is available at: https://github.com/cowitt/ParetoPick-R (Wittekind et al., 2025).

All spatial vector and raster data are provided in the ETRS89 / LAEA Europe coordinate reference system (EPSG: 3035).

Additional documentation:

A detailed manual for the CoMOLA-SWAT+ coupling workflow is available at: https://zenodo.org/records/11473793.

Instructions for using ParetoPick-R are available at: at https://github.com/cowitt/ParetoPick-R/blob/main/README.md.

This dataset is associated with the manuscript Kolcsár et al. (2026), submitted to Environmental Modelling & Software.

References

Arnold, J.G., Čerkasova, N., White, M.J., Bailey, R., Thorp, K., Jeong, J., Zhang, X., Ugraskan, T., van Griensven, A., Rathjens, H., Raj, C., Cai, X., Geter, W.F., David, O., Carlson, J.R., Le, K.N., 2024. Soil and Water Assessment Tool Plus (SWAT+).

Kolcsár, R.A., Kassai, P., Braun, P., Farkas-Iványi, K., Mészáros, J., Strauch, M., Wittekind, C., Piniewski, M., Schürz, C., Čerkasova, N., Szabó, B., 2026. Integrating field-scale connectivity into SWAT+ to support multi-objective optimisation of natural water retention measures Submitted to Environmental Modelling and Software.

Piniewski, M., Strauch, M., Plunge, S., Schürz, C., Čerkasova, N., Chiaradia, E.A., Witing, F., 2024. Assessment of NSWRM effectiveness under current and future climate at the catchment scale. Deliverable D4.4 of the EU Horizon 2020 project OPTAIN. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11233622

Schürz, C., 2022. SWATbuildR.

Schürz, C., Čerkasova, N., Farkas, C., Nemes, A., Plunge, S., Strauch, M., Szabó, B., Piniewski, M., 2022. SWAT+ modeling protocol for the assessment of water and nutrient retention measures in small agricultural catchments.

Strauch, M., Cord, A.F., Pätzold, C., Lautenbach, S., Kaim, A., Schweitzer, C., Seppelt, R., Volk, M., 2019. Constraints in multi-objective optimization of land use allocation – Repair or penalize? Environ. Model. Softw. 118, 241–251. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2019.05.003

Strauch, M., Schürz, C., 2024. Common optimisation protocol. Deliverable D5.1 of the EU Horizon 2020 project OPTAIN. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11473793

Wittekind, C., Strauch, M., Witing, F., 2025. Post-processing and interactive visualisation of optimisation results. Deliverable D5.2 of the EU Horizon 2020 project OPTAIN. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15043865