Pollution source localisation in a simple river branch

Abstract

Modern water quality monitoring system enables detailed observation of water quality parameters. Measured data of the pollution concentration time course can be consequently used for determination of the pollution source position. Paper deals with the solution of inverse problem, where the pollution source and its position is determined from the pollution concentration time courses obtained in the monitored watercourse profile located downstream. The main objective of this paper is to introduce the simple method for solution of pollution spreading inverse task and to analyse the accuracy of this method application. For this aim, a software tool was developed. Two different analytical solutions equation for this tool were used. For the method verification, data from a field tracer experiment were used. The experiment was performed on a lowland channel with extensive vegetation coverage. The test results show, that the proposed procedure is feasible, the numeric solution is reliable, stable and fast. Results of tests have also indicated the impact of used analytical solution equation and also the software tool ability to fit the specific conditions in the real streams.