Parameter identification criteria for salt brine dispersion from desalination plant ocean outfalls

Simulation of large-scale pollution problems is most often subject to identification of important physical constants. Moreover, the inherent randomness of the surroundings in which identification is to take place compounds the analytical difficulties. In some cases the analysis must consider the distributed parameter system. This paper presents results which advance ocean pollution identification techniques in two directions. First, a necessary and sufficient criterion for "identifiability" of a given parameter is developed. This result can be used to determine what kind of data is actually necessary, how many data-gathering sensors are required, and where these sensors should be placed. The second advance lies in the demonstration that a constrained maximum likelihood approach is asymptotically consistent, even in some cases where the likelihood function is not unimodal, and the observations are not independent. The results are applied to the problem of salt brine dispersion from desalination plant ocean outfalls.