Entropy principles in the prediction of water quality values at discontinued monitoring stations

A new methodology for predicting water quality values at discontinued water quality monitoring stations is proposed. The method is based upon the Principle of Maximum Entropy (POME) and provides unbiased predictions of water quality levels at upstream tributaries and on the mainstem of a river given observed changes in the distribution of the same water quality parameter at a downstream location. Changes in the values of water quality parameters which are known a priori to have occurred upstream, but which are not sufficiently large to account for all the observed change in the same water quality parameter at the downstream location are able to be incorporated in the method through the introduction of a new term in the basic entropy expression. Application of the procedure to water quality monitoring on the Mackenzie River in Queensland, Australia indicates the method has considerable potential for prediction of water quality at discontinued stations. The method also has potential for identifying the location of causes of observed changes in water quality at a downstream station.