Assessment of water quality classes using self-organizing map and fuzzy C-means clustering methods in Ergene River, Turkey

• Published in: Environmental monitoring and assessment Vol. 192; no. 10; p. 638
• Main Authors: Orak, Ersin, Akkoyunlu, Atilla, Can, Zehra Semra
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.10.2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Clustering; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecology; Ecotoxicology; Environment; Environmental Management; Environmental monitoring; Environmental science; Ergene; Industrial areas; Methods; Monitoring/Environmental Analysis; Nonpoint source pollution; Parameters; Pollution sources; Quality assessment; Rivers; Self organizing maps; Surface water; Surface water quality; Water management; Water pollution; Water quality; Water quality assessments; Ergene River; Turkey; Ergene basin; Fuzzy C-mean clustering; Water quality assessment; Self-organizing map
• ISSN: 0167-6369; 1573-2959
• DOI: 10.1007/s10661-020-08560-3

Surface water is one of the primary sources for drinking, irrigation, and industrial activities in Ergene River, Turkey. However, its quality has deteriorated due to the point and non-point pollution sources. Therefore, an appropriate assessment of surface water quality is very important. Water quality classification is calculated separately for each quality parameter in Turkey. An overall assessment of surface water quality is essential for water management. In this study, self-organizing maps (SOMs) and fuzzy C-means clustering (FCM) methods have been used for assessing surface water quality in the Ergene River. Seven water quality parameters have been considered as important indicators to evaluate water quality status in 7 observation points located in the river, covering the period from 1985 to 2013.