Describing water quality with aggregate index
For a long time, water resources engineers have been concerned about the quantity of water available. However, with the increase of pollution in bodies of water, the attention has also focused on the quality of water resources. Alternative efforts to describe water quality by an aggregate index consisting of subindices of the constituent quality variables are examined. Ambiguity problems exist where all the subindices are acceptable and yet the overall index is not. Eclipsing problems exist where the overall index is insensitive to a single variable; such insensitivity is unacceptable. A mathematical formulation is developed that avoids these problems of ambiguity and eclipsing. Furthermore, the recommended index form is open to increasing the number of variables included within the index.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of Roorkee (IN)
- OSTI ID:
- 20075768
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Environmental Engineering (New York), Journal Name: Journal of Environmental Engineering (New York) Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 126; ISSN 0733-9372; ISSN JOEEDU
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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