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Impact of sensor measurement error on sensor positioning in water quality monitoring networks

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Abstract

This paper studies the impact of sensor measurement error on designing a water quality monitoring network for a river system, and shows that robust sensor locations can be obtained when an optimization algorithm is combined with a statistical process control (SPC) method. Specifically, we develop a possible probabilistic model of sensor measurement error and the measurement error model is embedded into a simulation model of a river system. An optimization algorithm is used to find the optimal sensor locations that minimize the expected time until a spill detection in the presence of a constraint on the probability of detecting a spill. The experimental results show that the optimal sensor locations are highly sensitive to the variability of measurement error and false alarm rates are often unacceptably high. An SPC method is useful in finding thresholds that guarantee a false alarm rate no more than a pre-specified target level, and an optimization algorithm combined with the thresholds finds a robust sensor network.

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Acknowledgments

This material is based upon work supported by NSF under Grants CMMI-0644837 and CMMI-1538746 and Hanyang University under Grant HY-2014000000465. All data we used to derive measurement error model and parameters can be obtained from EPA (2001). For a detailed explanation of data used to form rain patterns, we refer readers to Telci and Aral (2011).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332-0205, USA

    Seong-Hee Kim & Jisu J. Park

  2. School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332-0355, USA

    Mustafa M. Aral

  3. Information and Communication Engineering, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science & Technology, Daegu, 42988, South Korea

    Yongsoon Eun

  4. Department of Industrial Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul, 04763, South Korea

    Chuljin Park

Authors
  1. Seong-Hee Kim
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  2. Mustafa M. Aral
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  3. Yongsoon Eun
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  4. Jisu J. Park
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  5. Chuljin Park
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chuljin Park.

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Kim, SH., Aral, M.M., Eun, Y. et al. Impact of sensor measurement error on sensor positioning in water quality monitoring networks. Stoch Environ Res Risk Assess 31, 743–756 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00477-016-1210-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00477-016-1210-1

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