Long-term water demand forecasting using artificial intelligence models in the Tuojiang River basin, China.

Drought is a complex and frequently occurring natural hazard in many parts of the world. Therefore, accurate drought forecasting is essential to mitigate its adverse impacts. This research has inferred the implication and the appropriateness of the extreme learning machine (ELM) algorithm for drought forecasting. For numerical evaluation, time series data of the Standardized Precipitating Temperature Index (SPTI) are used for nine meteorological stations located in various climatological zones of Pakistan. To assess the performance of ELM, this research includes parallel inferences of multilayer perceptron (MLP) and autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models. The performance of each model is assessed using root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE), mean absolute percent error (MAPE), Kling‐Gupta efficiency (KGE), Willmott index (WI), and Karl Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Generally, graphical results illustrated an excellent performance of the ELM algorithm over MLP and ARIMA models. For training data of SPTI‐1, ELM’s best performance has observed at Chitral station (RMSE = 0.374, KGE = 0.838, WI = 0.960, MAE = 0.272, MAPE = 259.59, R = 0.93). For SPTI‐1 at Astore station, the numerical results are (RMSE = 0.688, KGE = 0.988, WI = 0.997, MAE = 0.798, MAPE = 247.35). The overall results indicate that the ELM outperformed by producing the smallest RMSE, MAE, and MAPE values and maximum values for KGE, WI, and correlation coefficient values at almost all the selected meteorological stations for (1, 3, 6, 9, and 12) month time scales. In summary, this research endorses the use of ELM for accurate drought forecasting.

Globally, wind energy if properly harnessed, could serve as a source of energy generation in Africa. This study compared the performance of two Machine Learning (ML) algorithms (Linear regression and Random Forest) in predicting wind speed in five major cities in Africa (Yaoundé, Pretoria, Nairobi, Cairo and Abuja). Wind data were collected between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2022, using the Solar Radiation Data Archive. The data preprocessing was carried out with 80% of the data used for training and 20% for validation. The performance of these ML algorithms was evaluated using Mean Square Error (MSE), Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), Mean Absolute Error (MAE), Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) and coefficient of determination (R2). The result shows that Nairobi (3.814795 m/s) closely followed by Cairo (3.606453 m/s) has the highest mean wind speed while Yaoundé (1.090512 m/s) has the lowest. Based on the performance metrics used, the two Machine Learning algorithms were competitive. Still, the Linear Regression (LR) algorithm outperformed the Random Forest Algorithm in predicting wind speed in all the selected major African cities. In Yaoundé (RMSE = 0.3892, MAE= 0.3001, MAPE =0.5030), Pretoria (RMSE=1.2339, MAE=0.9480, MAPE=0.7450) Nairobi (RMSE= 0.4223, MAE =0.6499, MAPE =0.1872), Nairobi (RMSE=0.6499, MAE=0.5171, MAPE =0.1872), Cairo (RMSE =1.0909, MAE =0.8544, MAPE =0.3541) and Abuja (RMSE = 0.70245, MAE =0.5441, MAPE= 0.4515) the Linear regression algorithms was found to outperformed Random Forest Regression. Therefore, the Linear regression algorithm is more reliable in predicting wind speed compared with the Random Forest regression.

Compressive strength is an important mechanical property of high-strength concrete (HSC), but testing methods are usually uneconomical, time-consuming, and labor-intensive. To this end, in this paper, a long short-term memory (LSTM) model was proposed to predict the HSC compressive strength using 324 data sets with five input independent variables, namely water, cement, fine aggregate, coarse aggregate, and superplasticizer. The prediction results were compared with those of the conventional support vector regression (SVR) model using four metrics, root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE), mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), and correlation coefficient (R2). The results showed that the prediction accuracy and reliability of LSTM were higher with R2 = 0.997, RMSE = 0.508, MAE = 0.08, and MAPE = 0.653 compared to the evaluation metrics R2 = 0.973, RMSE = 1.595, MAE = 0.312, MAPE = 2.469 of the SVR model. The LSTM model is recommended for the pre-estimation of HSC compressive strength under a given mix ratio before the laboratory compression test. Additionally, the Shapley additive explanations (SHAP)-based approach was performed to analyze the relative importance and contribution of the input variables to the output compressive strength.

A comparative study on the development of hybrid SSA-RF and PSO-RF models for predicting the uniaxial compressive strength of rocks

Data-based groundwater quality estimation and uncertainty analysis for irrigation agriculture

Wire sawing is an important process in the cutting of NdFeB magnets and the sawed surface topography and surface roughness (SR) are important indicators for assessing surface quality. This paper analyzed the effects of process parameters on the sawed NdFeB surface topography and SR based on orthogonal experiments and then presented an SR prediction model called ISSA-BP, which was based on a BP neural network using an improved sparrow search algorithm (ISSA). For the problem of insufficient optimization capability of the traditional sparrow search algorithm (SSA), Cubic chaotic mapping, Latin hypercube sampling, the sine–cosine algorithm, Levy flight, and Cauchy mutation were introduced to improve the traditional sparrow search algorithm (SSA) to obtain ISSA, improving algorithm convergence speed and global optimization. The ISSA was then used to optimize the initial weights and thresholds of the BP neural network for predicting Ra. Research shows that the sawed surface topography reflects a combination of brittle and ductile material removal. As the workpiece feed speed and size decrease and the wire speed increases, there is a reduction in SR. Compared with the SSA-BP and traditional BP models, the ISSA-BP prediction model has reduced various error indicators such as mean absolute error (MAE) and mean square error (MSE). The mean absolute error (MAE) of the prediction model optimized by the ISSA is 0.064475, the mean square error (MSE) is 0.0072297, the root mean square error (RMSE) is 0.085028, and the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) is 3.7171%. The research results provide an experimental basis and technical support for predicting the SR and optimizing the process parameters in diamond wire-sawing NdFeB.

Development of machine learning-based standalone GUI application for predicting hydraulic conductivity and compaction parameters of lateritic soils

Tomato is one of the most important vegetables due to its high production and nutritional value. With the development of digital agriculture, the tomato breeding and processing industries have seen a rapid increase in the need for simple, low-labor, and inexpensive methods for analyzing tomato composition. This study proposes a digital method to predict four minerals (calcium, potassium, phosphorus, and magnesium) in beef-type tomato using machine learning models, including k-nearest neighbors (kNN), artificial neural networks (ANNs), and Support Vector Regression (SVR). The models were discriminated using the coefficient of determination (R2), root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE), and mean absolute percentage error (MAPE). The kNN model showed the best performance for estimation of quantity of calcium, potassium, phosphorus, and magnesium. The results demonstrate that kNN consistently outperforms ANNs and SVR across all target nutrients, achieving the highest R2 and the lowest error metrics (RMSE, MAE, and MAPE). Notably, kNN achieved an exceptional R2 of 0.8723 and a remarkably low MAPE of 3.95% in predicting phosphorus. This study highlights how machine learning can provide a versatile, accurate, and efficient solution for tomato mineral analysis in digital agriculture.

Hybrid random forest-based models for predicting shear strength of structural surfaces based on surface morphology parameters and metaheuristic algorithms

A stock price index measures the change in several share prices, which can describe the market and assist investors in deciding on a specific investment. Thus, foreseeing the stock price index benefits investors in creating a better investment strategy. However, forecasting the stock price index can be challenging due to its non-linearity, non-stationary and high uncertainty. Gaussian process regression (GPR) is an attractive and powerful approach for prediction, especially when the data fluctuates over time with fewer restrictions. Besides, the GPR gains advantages over other forecasting techniques as it can offer predictions with uncertainty to provide margin errors. In this study, we evaluate the use of GPR to predict the stock price of Thailand (SET). The SET data are divided into 2 datasets; the data in the year 2015 - 2020 and the data in the year 2020 due to the massive change during the COVID-19 pandemic. The prediction results from the GPR are then compared to the machine learning approaches, artificial neural network (ANN) and recurrent neural network (RNN) using evaluation scores; the root mean square error (RMSE), the mean absolute error (MAE), the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) and the Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE). The results indicate that the GPR is superior to the ANN and RNN for both datasets as it provides a high prediction accuracy. Moreover, the results suggest that the GPR is less sensitive to the number of input lags in the model. Therefore, the GPR is more favorable for the prediction of SET than the ANN and RNN.
 HIGHLIGHTS
 
 The Gaussian process regression (GPR) was applied to predict the stock price index of Thailand (SET)
 The predictive performance of the GPR was compared to artificial neural networks (ANNs) and recurrent neural networks (RNNs)
 The results indicate that GPR outperformed the other methods as it provided a high prediction accuracy along with prediction intervals
 
 GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

Accurately estimating the amount of evaporation loss is necessary for scheduling and calculating irrigation water requirements. In this study, four machine learning (ML) modeling approaches, extreme learning machine (ELM), gradient boosting machine (GBM), quantile random forest (QRF), and Gaussian process regression (GPR), have been developed to estimate the monthly evaporation loss over two stations located in Iraq. Monthly climatical parameters have been used as an input variable for simulating the evaporation rate. Several statistical measures (e.g., mean absolute error (MAE), correlation coefficient (R), mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), and modified index of agreement (Md)), as well as graphical inspection, were used to compare the performances of the applied models. The results showed that the GBM model has much better performance in predicting monthly evaporation over two stations compared to other applied models. For the first case study which was in Diyala, the results showed a prediction enhancement in terms of MAE and RMSE by 7.17%, 21.01%; 16.51%, 15.74%; and 23.14%, 26.64%; using GBM compared to ELM, GPR, and QRF, respectively. However, for the second case study (in Erbil), the prediction enhancement was improved in terms of reduction of MAE and RMSE by 10.88%, 9.24%; 15.24%, 5%; and 16.06%, 15.76%; respectively, compared to ELM, GPR, and QRF models. The results of the proposed GMBM model can therefore assist local stakeholders in the management of water resources.

River stream estimation is a subject matter that needs constant research and development since it is all-important in the management of water resources, meeting the water demand, irrigation and agricultural activities, and providing distant signal in unwanted situations such as floods. Unfortunately, a universal technique has been impossible to talk about yet although many techniques have been used for estimation and modeling. This has made it necessary to develop different techniques and / or to make comparisons between techniques and to determine the most accurate method for the parameters used. In this context, in this study, the distribution graphs of the flow data fourteen stations located in the Euphrates-Tigris Basin for the years 1981-2010 were created and their conformity to the normal distribution was investigated Evaluation has been made with Adaptive Neural Fuzzy Logic System (ANFIS), Support Vector Regression (SVR) techniques and the newly introduced Gaussian Process Regression (GPR), Extreme Learning Machine (ELM) and Emotional Neural Networks (ENN) artificial intelligence techniques. Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), Mean Square Error (MSE), Mean Absolute Error (MAE) and correlation coefficient (r), which are frequently used, were used to determine the model performance. In addition, it is aimed to find out which technique gives better results with rank analysis. Although all models work well, the sequence with regards to the comparison outcomes of the techniques obtained from rank analysis was observed to be ELM, GPR, ENN, SVR, ANFIS respectively. In order to better interpret the results, Taylor diagrams and time series graphics of the model outputs were created.

Predicting dam inflow is critical for human life safety, water resource management, and hydroelectric power generation. While machine learning (ML) models address complex, nonlinear hydrological problems, quantum machine learning (QML) offers greater potential to overcome classical computational limits. This study compares a hybrid quantum neural network (HQNN) with the following two classical models: bidirectional CNN-LSTM and support vector regression (SVR). These models were evaluated to predict monthly inflow to the Mile Mughan Dam, a transboundary hydroelectric and irrigation dam located on the Aras River between Azerbaijan and Iran, using a 14-year dataset (2010–2023) under two scenarios. In total, 70% of data was used for training and 30% for testing. The first scenario encompassed meteorological variables plus three months of inflow lags, and the second included inflow lags only. Model performance was assessed using Coefficient of Determination (R2), Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE), Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE), Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE), and graphical plots. HQNN showed superior performance across all metrics. In Scenario 1, HQNN achieved R2 = 0.915, RMSE = 37.318 MCM, NSE = 0.908, MAPE = 8.343%; CNN-BiLSTM had R2 = 0.867, RMSE = 46.506 MCM, NSE = 0.858, MAPE = 10.795%; SVR had R2 = 0.846, RMSE = 52.372 MCM, NSE = 0.821, MAPE = 12.772%. In Scenario 2, HQNN maintained strong performance (R2 = 0.855, RMSE = 48.56 MCM, NSE = 0.845, MAPE = 9.979%) and outperformed CNN-BiLSTM (R2 = 0.810, RMSE = 56.126 MCM, NSE = 0.793, MAPE = 11.456%) and SVR (R2 = 0.801, RMSE = 60.336 MCM, NSE = 0.761, MAPE = 12.901%). In Scenario 1 and Scenario 2, HQNN increased the prediction accuracy by 19.76% and 13.47%, respectively, compared to the CNN-BiLSTM model. These results confirm HQNN’s reliability in both multivariate and univariate modeling.

This article uses machine learning techniques as fuzzy and neuro-fuzzy ANFISs, to develop and compare prediction models capable of relating pregnant women’s exposure to air pollutants, such as Nitrogen Dioxide and Particulate Matter, the mother’s age, and the number of prenatal consultations to the incidence of premature birth. In the current literature, studies can be found that relate prematurity to the exposure of pregnant women to NO2, O3, and PM10; to Toluene and benzene, mainly in the window 5 to 10 days before birth; and to PM10 in the week before birth. Both models used logistic regression to quantify the effects of pollutants as a result of premature birth. Datasets from Brazil—Departamento de Informatica do Sistema Único de Saúde (DATASUS) and Companhia Ambiental do Estado de São Paulo (CETESB)—were used, covering the period from 2016 to 2018 and comprising women living in the city of São José dos Campos (SP), Brazil. In order to evaluate and compare the different techniques used, evaluation metrics were calculated, such as correlation (r), coefficient of determination (R2), Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE), Mean Square Error (MSE), and Mean Absolute Error (MAE). These metrics are widely used in the literature due to their ability to evaluate the robustness and efficiency of prediction models. For the RMSE, MAPE, MSE, and MAE metrics, lower values indicate that prediction errors are smaller, demonstrating better model accuracy and confidence. In the case of (r) and R2, a positive and strong result indicates alignment and better performance between the real and predicted data. The neuro-fuzzy ANFIS model showed superior performance, with a correlation (r) of 0.59, R2 = 0.35, RMSE = 2.83, MAPE = 5.35%, MSE = 8.00, and MAE = 1.70, while the fuzzy model returned results of r = 0.20, R2 = 0.04, RMSE = 3.29, MSE = 10.81, MAPE = 6.67%, and MAE = 2.01. Therefore, the results from the ANFIS neuro-fuzzy system indicate greater prediction capacity and precision in relation to the fuzzy system. This superiority can be explained by integration with neural networks, allowing data learning and, consequently, more efficient modeling. In addition, the findings obtained in this study have potential for the formulation of public health policies aimed at reducing the number of premature births and promoting improvements in maternal and neonatal health.

The growth and sustainability of human development rely on water availability. Proper management of Groundwater as the main source of one-third of freshwater resources is compulsory because of its renewable sources and to safeguard food sanctuary and water security. The steps ahead modeling of GRACE Terrestrial Water Storage (TWS) was employed in this study using the GRACE TWS data from 2007 to 2017 and TWS spherical harmonic solution obtained from the University of Texas (UT) center for space research.  The data was used to create the artificial intelligence-based models viz: Elman neural network (ENN) and Support vector regression (SVR) based on several input variables, including t-12, t-24, t-36, t-48, and TWS as the output variable. The models were evaluated using mean absolute error (MAE), root means square error (RMSE), mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), correlation coefficient (CC), and Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE). The estimation outcomes depicted that only SVR-M1 (NSE=0.993, MAE0.0346) generated promising results, with ENN-M3 (NSE=0.6586, MAE=0.6895) as the second-best model. All other models’ combinations were within the range of good to marginal accuracies, which are unreliable for decision-making.