9. Inverse Problems and Transforming Mechanisms

As mentioned in Chap.​ 4, the term ‘inverse problem’ is not a synonym of the terms ‘model identification’, ‘model calibration’, ‘historical matching’, ‘site specific validation’. Those terms relate to evaluating the effective characteristics for a given simulation model which is usually an optimization problem. The goal of the inverse problems is to estimate the actual properties of geological objects using available observations on natural phenomena or on responses on man made impacts. Since the notions on geological objects are not more than models, it seems to be more accurate to define inverse problems as applications of simpler models for evaluating properties of more complex ones. The simpler models applied for solving inverse problems are called the interpretation models.