The inverse source problem for the variable coefficients convection-diffusion equation

This article is concerned with the numerical solution of an inverse source problem associated with the variable coefficients convection-diffusion equation. The Dual Reciprocity Boundary Element Method (DRBEM) is combined with an iterative Sequential Quadratic Programming (SQP) procedure in order to identify the locations and strengths of several point sources. As the number of sources needs to be estimated a priori, there are three possible cases, namely correct, over and under estimation of this number. All the three situations are investigated and a study of stability of the proposed numerical technique is performed by adding random noise into the exact input data.