Transmissivity Identification by Combination of CVFEM and Genetic Algorithm: Application to the Coastal Aquifer

Abstract

The solution of inverse problems in groundwater flow has been massively invested by several researchers around the world. This type of problem has been formulated by a constrained optimization problem and this constraint is none other than the direct problem (DP) itself. Thus, solving algorithms are developed that simultaneously solve the direct problem (Darcy’s equation) and the associated optimization problem. Several papers have been published in the literature using optimization methods based on computation of the objective function gradients. This type of method suffers from the inability to provide a global optimum. Similarly, they also have the disadvantage of not being applicable to objective functions of discontinuous derivatives. This paper is proposed to avoid these disadvantages. Indeed, for the optimization phase, we use random search-based methods that do not use derivative computations, but based on a search step followed only by evaluation of the objective function as many times as necessary to the convergence towards the global optimum. Among the different algorithms of this type of methods, we adopted the genetic algorithm (GA). On the other hand, the numerical solution of the direct problem is accomplished by the CVFEM discretization method (Control Volume Finite Element Method) which ensures the mass conservation in a natural way by its mathematical formulation. The resulting computation code HySubF-CVFEM (Hydrodynamic of Subsurface Flow by Control Volume Finite Element Method) solves the Darcy equation in a heterogeneous porous medium. Thus, this paper describes the description of the integrated optimization algorithm called HySubF-CVFEM/GA that has been successfully implemented and validated successfully compared to a schematic flow case offering analytical solutions. The results of this comparison are qualified of excellent accuracy. To identify the transmissivity field of the realistic study area, the code HySubF-CVFEM/GA was applied to the coastal “Chaouia” groundwater located in Western of Morocco. This aquifer of high heterogeneity is essential for water resources for the Casablanca region. Results analysis of this study has shown that the developed code is capable of providing high accuracy transmissivity fields, thus representing the heterogeneity observed in situ. However, in comparison with gradient method optimization the HySubF-CVFEM/GA code converges too slowly to the optimal solution (large CPU-time consuming). Despite this disadvantage, and given the high accuracy of the obtained results, the HySubF-CVFEM/GA code can be recommended to solve in an efficient and effective manner the identification parameters problems in hydrogeology.