Kouli_etal_2008_Groundwater modelling_BOOK.pdf - Pantelis ...

PREFACE
Groundwater (GW) is one of the most valuable natural resources and for that reason, the
GW protection and management is vital for human evolution, socio-economic development
and ecological diversity. During the last decades, the continuously increasing need of water
has led to a rapidly growing awareness in the field of GW management. At the same time
over exploitation and pollution of water resources are threatening the ecosystems. The
combination of these two problems which have acquired worldwide dimensions has forced
many scientists working in relative fields to search new, multidisciplinary approaches to
address them. Effective management and protection of groundwater resources require detail
knowledge and quantitative/qualitative characterization of aquifers. Thus, modeling and
planning of the GW through the use of modern technologies and approaches have become of
high priority towards this direction. This book provides leading-edge research on this field.
Artificial neural networks are empirical mathematical tools proven to represent complex
relationships of hydrological systems. Neural networks are increasingly being applied in
subsurface modeling where intricate physical processes and lack of detailed field data prevail.
Two types of ANN models: Back propagation neural network (BPNN) and radial basis
function neural network (RBFN) are examined to predict the pesticide contamination of
domestic wells. Because sample collection, analysis, and re-sampling are expensive, a large
dataset is not available for ANN use in this study. This Short Communication presents
analyzes of raw data for preparation of input subsets for ANN use. Thus, a clustering
technique is used to divide the whole dataset into three subsets: training, validating, and
testing. The sensitivity analysis was carried out by deleting one or more input variables from
the input data set to measure the importance of one variable over the other in terms of ANN
prediction performance. It provides a sense of the effect of each parameter on pesticide
occurrence in a well. The well depth, depth to aquifer material from land surface, and on-site
pesticide storage are found to be important parameters in pesticide occurrence in well.
Groundwater (GW) is one of the most valuable natural resources and for that reason, the
GW protection and management is vital for human evolution, socio-economic development
and ecological diversity. During the last decades, the continuously increasing need of water
has led to a rapidly growing awareness in the field of GW management. At the same time
over exploitation and pollution of water resources are threatening the ecosystems. The
combination of these two problems which have acquired worldwide dimensions has forced
many scientists working in relative fields to search new, multidisciplinary approaches to
address them. Effective management and protection of groundwater resources require detail