• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.151-163
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• 2018

The objective of this study was to estimate LOADEST (LOAD Estimator) coefficients for simulating pollutant loads in ungauged watersheds. Regression models of LOADEST were used to simulate pollutant loads, and the multiple linear regression (MLR) was used for coefficients estimation on watershed characteristics. The fifth and third model of LOADEST were selected to simulate T-N (Total-Nitrogen) and T-P (Total-Phosphorous) loads, respectively. The results and statistics indicated that regression models based on LOADEST simulated pollutant loads reasonably and model coefficients were reliable. However, the results also indicated that LOADEST underestimated pollutant loads and had a bias. For this reason, simulated loads were corrected the bias by a quantile mapping method in this study. Corrected loads indicated that the bias correction was effective. Using multiple regression analysis, a coefficient estimation methods according to the watershed characteristic were developed. Coefficients which calculated by MLR were used in models. The simulated result and statistics indicated that MLR estimated the model coefficients reasonably. Regression models developed in this study would help simulate pollutant loads for ungauged watersheds and be a screen model for policy decision.