Introducing MapSWAT: An open source QGIS plugin integrated with Google Earth Engine for efficiently generating ready-to-use SWAT+ input maps.

Hydrological modeling plays a significant role in addressing global water challenges. Streamlining the implementation of hydrological models enables more people to participate in designing solutions to water issues. This study presents the development and workflow of a QGIS-based tool called MapSWAT, designed to facilitate the application of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT+). MapSWAT is an open-source plugin written in Python for collecting and producing ready-to-use SWAT+ input maps. It can generate SWAT+ input maps for any location globally, including limited data regions, by connecting to the Google Earth Engine. The potential for and feasibility of MapSWAT have been demonstrated through its application in a case study in southeast Spain. The results indicate that MapSWAT is a useful tool for efficiently generating SWAT+ input maps that optimizes the hydrological modeling process with SWAT+. The MapSWAT software is freely and publicly available at https://github.com/AdrLBallesteros/MapSWAT.