Forecasting Different Types of Droughts Simultaneously Using Multivariate Standardized Precipitation Index (MSPI), MLP Neural Network, and Imperialistic Competitive Algorithm (ICA)

Precipitation deficit causes meteorological drought, and its continuation appears as other different types of droughts including hydrological, agricultural, economic, and social droughts. Multivariate Standardized Precipitation Index (MSPI) can show the drought status from the perspective of differe...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Pouya Aghelpour, Vahid Varshavian
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2021-01-01
Series:Complexity
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2021/6610228
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832566461384622080
author Pouya Aghelpour
Vahid Varshavian
author_facet Pouya Aghelpour
Vahid Varshavian
author_sort Pouya Aghelpour
collection DOAJ
description Precipitation deficit causes meteorological drought, and its continuation appears as other different types of droughts including hydrological, agricultural, economic, and social droughts. Multivariate Standardized Precipitation Index (MSPI) can show the drought status from the perspective of different drought types simultaneously. Forecasting multivariate droughts can provide good information about the future status of a region and will be applicable for the planners of different water divisions. In this study, the MLP model and its hybrid form with the Imperialistic Competitive Algorithm (MLP-ICA) have been investigated for the first time in multivariate drought studies. For this purpose, two semi-arid stations of western Iran were selected, and their precipitation data were provided from the Iranian Meteorological Organization (IRIMO), during the period of 1988–2017. MSPI was calculated in 5-time windows of the multivariate drought, including MSPI3–6 (drought in perspectives of soil moisture and surface hydrology simultaneously), MSPI6–12 (hydrological and agricultural droughts simultaneously), MSPI3–12 (soil moisture, surface hydrology, and agricultural droughts simultaneously), MSPI12–24 (drought in perspectives of agriculture and groundwater simultaneously), and MSPI24–48 (socio-economical droughts). The results showed acceptable performances in forecasting multivariate droughts. In both stations, the larger time windows (MSPI12–24 and MSPI24–48) had better predictions than the smaller ones (MSPI3–6, MSPI6–12, and MSPI3–12). Generally, it can be reported that, by decreasing the size of the time window, the gradual changes of the index give way to sudden jumps. This causes weaker autocorrelation and consequently weaker predictions, e.g., forecasting droughts from the perspective of soil moisture and surface hydrology simultaneously (MSPI3–6). The hybrid MLP-ICA shows stronger prediction results than the simple MLP model in all comparisons. The ICA optimizer could averagely improve MLP’s accuracy by 28.5%, which is a significant improvement. According to the evaluations (RMSE = 0.20; MAE = 0.15; R = 0.95), the results are hopeful for simultaneous forecasting of different drought types and can be tested for other similar areas.
format Article
id doaj-art-1efaf001bf0448ea87bfc5d8db665cda
institution Kabale University
issn 1076-2787
1099-0526
language English
publishDate 2021-01-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series Complexity
spelling doaj-art-1efaf001bf0448ea87bfc5d8db665cda2025-02-03T01:04:05ZengWileyComplexity1076-27871099-05262021-01-01202110.1155/2021/66102286610228Forecasting Different Types of Droughts Simultaneously Using Multivariate Standardized Precipitation Index (MSPI), MLP Neural Network, and Imperialistic Competitive Algorithm (ICA)Pouya Aghelpour0Vahid Varshavian1Agricultural Meteorology, Department of Water Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, IranAgricultural Meteorology, Department of Water Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, IranPrecipitation deficit causes meteorological drought, and its continuation appears as other different types of droughts including hydrological, agricultural, economic, and social droughts. Multivariate Standardized Precipitation Index (MSPI) can show the drought status from the perspective of different drought types simultaneously. Forecasting multivariate droughts can provide good information about the future status of a region and will be applicable for the planners of different water divisions. In this study, the MLP model and its hybrid form with the Imperialistic Competitive Algorithm (MLP-ICA) have been investigated for the first time in multivariate drought studies. For this purpose, two semi-arid stations of western Iran were selected, and their precipitation data were provided from the Iranian Meteorological Organization (IRIMO), during the period of 1988–2017. MSPI was calculated in 5-time windows of the multivariate drought, including MSPI3–6 (drought in perspectives of soil moisture and surface hydrology simultaneously), MSPI6–12 (hydrological and agricultural droughts simultaneously), MSPI3–12 (soil moisture, surface hydrology, and agricultural droughts simultaneously), MSPI12–24 (drought in perspectives of agriculture and groundwater simultaneously), and MSPI24–48 (socio-economical droughts). The results showed acceptable performances in forecasting multivariate droughts. In both stations, the larger time windows (MSPI12–24 and MSPI24–48) had better predictions than the smaller ones (MSPI3–6, MSPI6–12, and MSPI3–12). Generally, it can be reported that, by decreasing the size of the time window, the gradual changes of the index give way to sudden jumps. This causes weaker autocorrelation and consequently weaker predictions, e.g., forecasting droughts from the perspective of soil moisture and surface hydrology simultaneously (MSPI3–6). The hybrid MLP-ICA shows stronger prediction results than the simple MLP model in all comparisons. The ICA optimizer could averagely improve MLP’s accuracy by 28.5%, which is a significant improvement. According to the evaluations (RMSE = 0.20; MAE = 0.15; R = 0.95), the results are hopeful for simultaneous forecasting of different drought types and can be tested for other similar areas.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2021/6610228
spellingShingle Pouya Aghelpour
Vahid Varshavian
Forecasting Different Types of Droughts Simultaneously Using Multivariate Standardized Precipitation Index (MSPI), MLP Neural Network, and Imperialistic Competitive Algorithm (ICA)
Complexity
title Forecasting Different Types of Droughts Simultaneously Using Multivariate Standardized Precipitation Index (MSPI), MLP Neural Network, and Imperialistic Competitive Algorithm (ICA)
title_full Forecasting Different Types of Droughts Simultaneously Using Multivariate Standardized Precipitation Index (MSPI), MLP Neural Network, and Imperialistic Competitive Algorithm (ICA)
title_fullStr Forecasting Different Types of Droughts Simultaneously Using Multivariate Standardized Precipitation Index (MSPI), MLP Neural Network, and Imperialistic Competitive Algorithm (ICA)
title_full_unstemmed Forecasting Different Types of Droughts Simultaneously Using Multivariate Standardized Precipitation Index (MSPI), MLP Neural Network, and Imperialistic Competitive Algorithm (ICA)
title_short Forecasting Different Types of Droughts Simultaneously Using Multivariate Standardized Precipitation Index (MSPI), MLP Neural Network, and Imperialistic Competitive Algorithm (ICA)
title_sort forecasting different types of droughts simultaneously using multivariate standardized precipitation index mspi mlp neural network and imperialistic competitive algorithm ica
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2021/6610228
work_keys_str_mv AT pouyaaghelpour forecastingdifferenttypesofdroughtssimultaneouslyusingmultivariatestandardizedprecipitationindexmspimlpneuralnetworkandimperialisticcompetitivealgorithmica
AT vahidvarshavian forecastingdifferenttypesofdroughtssimultaneouslyusingmultivariatestandardizedprecipitationindexmspimlpneuralnetworkandimperialisticcompetitivealgorithmica