Development of a Data Driven Model for Estimating Pollutant Levels

ISBN-13: 9783639150346 / Angielski / Miękka / 2009 / 144 str.

Tamar Opher

Opis

Pollutants accumulated on roads during dry periodsare washed off the surface during rainfall events,presenting a potentially hazardous non-pointpollution source. Estimation of pollutant loads inthese runoff waters is required for developingmitigation strategies, yet the numerous factorsinvolved and their complex interconnected influencesmake straightforward assessment impossible. Datadriven models are especially suitable for this task.The book starts with a review of pollutants inhighway runoff and their environmental effects,followed by an account of the sources of thesepollutants and the factors affecting theirconcentrations. The second part describes thedevelopment and implementation of a coupled MT-GA(Model Tree - Genetic Algorithm) model for theprediction of event mean concentrations of selectedhighway runoff pollutants. At first MT and GAapproaches are described and the development of thecoupled MT-GA model is portrayed. Finally the modelsperformance is evaluated and compared with literatureresults and sensitivity analysis is performed toexamine the relative significance of the influencingfactors and the models response to changes in inputvalues.

O autorze

Tamar Opher, MSc: Studied biology, computers and environmental
sciences at the Technion Israel Institute of Technology.
Currently works in environmental research.
Eran Friedler, DSc: Dept. of Env., Water and Agr. Eng., Technion Israel Institute of Technology.