Pilot points are often employed as a parameterization device for groundwater models. This is because they can provide a sound basis for highly-parameterized inversion while restricting parameters to a number which is low enough to allow filling of a Jacobian matrix using finite difference derivatives. The video discusses options for their emplacement, and how Tikhonov regularization is best applied in estimation of pilot point parameters. An example is provided that illustrates how nonuniqueness of the groundwater model calibration process may render important geological structures invisible to that process.
Presented by John Doherty