Calibration of the Transport Parameters of a Local Problem of Water Quality in Igap\'o I Lake

TL;DR

This paper calibrates transport parameters for water quality modeling in Igapó I Lake, using a finite element method to improve the accuracy of fecal coliform dispersion predictions.

Contribution

It introduces a calibration approach for diffusion and reaction parameters in a 2D water quality model using SUPG finite element method.

Findings

Calibrated diffusion coefficients and kinetic parameters for fecal coliform transport.

Improved model accuracy in predicting water quality variations.

Validated the model with observed data from Igapó I Lake.

Abstract

The calibration of a model refers to the process by which one can estimate some parameters by comparisons with observed data. Due to the dynamical nature of the environment, variations between predicted and observed values occur. Thus, the environmental parameters may vary due to random temperature changes, time of discharge flow, time of the day, and other conditions. Such variations can be minimized by identifying and optimizing some parameters of the transport model, like the values of diffusion coefficients in x and y directions and the kinetic parameter that describes the process of removing pollutants. This paper presents results concerning the calibration of transport parameters for two-dimensional problems of water quality (fecal coliform control) at Igap\'o I Lake, located in Londrina, Paran\'a, Brazil. Thus, the convection-diffusion-reaction equation, which describes mathematically the process studied in this work, is resolved by a semidiscrete finite element method (SUPG) which combines finite differences in time and finite elements in space.