Flow and transport parameter estimation of a confined aquifer using simulation–optimization model

In this study, the simulation–optimization (SO) model is used to identify the aquifer parameters (flow and transport parameters) of a confined aquifer. The unknown parameters are obtained by comparing the observed and the simulated values. The meshless local radial point interpolation method (LRPIM) is used for the purpose of simulation of groundwater flow/contaminant transport. An optimization model is used to minimize the error between simulated and predetermined head/concentration values. Teaching Learning-Based Optimization (TLBO) is coupled with the LRPIM simulation model to get the SO model (LRPIM-TLBO). Further with Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), the LRPIM-PSO model is also developed for comparison purpose. The proposed SO model is applied to a hypothetical and real field problem to estimate the aquifer parameters such as transmissivity, longitudinal and transverse dispersivity. The model performance is measured with RMS error. It is found that the RMS error is less than 7 and 10 for hypothetical and real field cases, showing the effectiveness of the SO models for parameter estimation.