Inverse Modeling of Soil Hydraulic Parameters Based on a Hybrid of Vector-Evaluated Genetic Algorithm and Particle Swarm Optimization

The accurate estimation of soil hydraulic parameters (θ[sub.s], α, n, and K[sub.s]) of the van Genuchten–Mualem model has attracted considerable attention. In this study, we proposed a new two-step inversion method, which first estimated the hydraulic parameter θ[sub.s] using objective function by t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Water (Basel) 2018-01, Vol.10 (1), p.84
Main Authors: Li, Yi-Bo, Liu, Ye, Nie, Wei-Bo, Ma, Xiao-Yi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Algorithms
Computer simulation
Genetic algorithms
Genetic vectors
Hydraulics
Hydrogeology
Infiltration (Hydrology)
Infiltration rate
Inverse estimation
Loam
Mathematical optimization
Moisture content
Objective function
Optimization
Parameter estimation
Permeability coefficient
Sandy soils
Silt
Soil moisture
Soil water
Water content
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Summary:The accurate estimation of soil hydraulic parameters (θ[sub.s], α, n, and K[sub.s]) of the van Genuchten–Mualem model has attracted considerable attention. In this study, we proposed a new two-step inversion method, which first estimated the hydraulic parameter θ[sub.s] using objective function by the final water content, and subsequently estimated the soil hydraulic parameters α, n, and Ks, using a vector-evaluated genetic algorithm and particle swarm optimization (VEGA-PSO) method based on objective functions by cumulative infiltration and infiltration rate. The parameters were inversely estimated for four types of soils (sand, loam, silt, and clay) under an in silico experiment simulating the tension disc infiltration at three initial water content levels. The results indicated that the method is excellent and robust. Because the objective function had multilocal minima in a tiny range near the true values, inverse estimation of the hydraulic parameters was difficult; however, the estimated soil water retention curves and hydraulic conductivity curves were nearly identical to the true curves. In addition, the proposed method was able to estimate the hydraulic parameters accurately despite substantial measurement errors in initial water content, final water content, and cumulative infiltration, proving that the method was feasible and practical for field application.
ISSN:2073-4441
2073-4441
DOI:10.3390/w10010084