Simultaneous determination of aquifer parameters and zone structures with fuzzy c-means clustering and meta-heuristic harmony search algorithm

This study proposes an inverse solution algorithm through which both the aquifer parameters and the zone structure of these parameters can be determined based on a given set of observations on piezometric heads. In the zone structure identification problem fuzzy c-means (FCM) clustering method is used. The association of the zone structure with the transmissivity distribution is accomplished through an optimization model. The meta-heuristic harmony search (HS) algorithm, which is conceptualized using the musical process of searching for a perfect state of harmony, is used as an optimization technique. The optimum parameter zone structure is identified based on three criteria which are the residual error, parameter uncertainty, and structure discrimination. A numerical example given in the literature is solved to demonstrate the performance of the proposed algorithm. Also, a sensitivity analysis is performed to test the performance of the HS algorithm for different sets of solution parameters. Results indicate that the proposed solution algorithm is an effective way in the simultaneous identification of aquifer parameters and their corresponding zone structures. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.