Groundwater parameter determination by means of a genetic algorithm with chromosomes of variable Length

  • K. Chairopoulos
  • E. Sidiropoulos

Abstract

The present paper deals with the problem of determining the hydraulic conductivity distribution over the extent of an aquifer, on the basis of hydraulic head measurements at several different control locations. The objective function of this inverse problem consists of the sum of square differences between measured and calculated hydraulic heads. The conductivity is assumed to follow a zoning pattern. The number of zones is not taken as known in the present treatment, in contrast to current literature. The problem is solved by means of a genetic algorithm with chromosomes of variable length with new specially designed genetic operators. Numerical results are obtained for a hypothetical rectangular aquifer and for various possible zoning patterns. A bi-objective extension of the treatment is also introduced, in order to secure keeping the number of zones as small as possible. The uncertainty due to the number and position of the control points is explored by means of numerical experiments.

Published
2015-11-27
Section
Articles