Parameter identification approaches to fractal model of mass transport for unsaturated soils

Modeling flow and solute transport in the unsaturated zone requires specifying values for soil hydraulic conductivity. Fractal models describe hierarchical systems and are suitable to model soil structure and soil hydraulic properties. The objectives of the paper are to propose a parameter identification approach and to determine hydraulic parameters using inverse modeling. The inverse problem of parameter identification is formulated as an optimization problem. In order to identify hydraulic parameters of soils efficiently and in a robust manner, the genetic algorithm is presented for the parameter identification of the fractal models. The investigation shows that the proposed inversion procedure is more superior for applying to parameter identification of fractal model of mass transport for unsaturated soils.