Accurate hourly AQI prediction using temporal CNN-LSTM-MHA+GRU: A case study of seasonal variations and pollution extremes in Visakhapatnam, India

This research presents an innovative hybrid deep learning architecture, CNN-LSTM-MHA+GRU, aimed at precise hourly predictions of the Air Quality Index (AQI) utilizing dataset derived from Visakhapatnam, India (October 2022–October 2024). The framework amalgamates one-dimensional Convolutional Neural...

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Main Authors: Sreenivasulu T, Mokesh Rayalu G
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-09-01
Series:Results in Engineering
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590123025023758
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author Sreenivasulu T
Mokesh Rayalu G
author_facet Sreenivasulu T
Mokesh Rayalu G
author_sort Sreenivasulu T
collection DOAJ
description This research presents an innovative hybrid deep learning architecture, CNN-LSTM-MHA+GRU, aimed at precise hourly predictions of the Air Quality Index (AQI) utilizing dataset derived from Visakhapatnam, India (October 2022–October 2024). The framework amalgamates one-dimensional Convolutional Neural Networks (1D CNN) for the extraction of short-term patterns, Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) integrated with Multi-Head Attention (MHA) to encapsulate long-term dependencies, and Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU) for the refinement of residual errors. The model, trained on a dataset comprising 14,073 records and optimized through Bayesian parameter tuning, demonstrated robust performance on the test dataset (R² = 0.9757, RMSE = 6.29, MAPE = 7.07 %). The proposed model consistently surpassed six benchmark models by an impressive margin of 6.6–15.4 % in terms of R². The application of five-fold cross-validation substantiated the model’s stability (mean R² = 0.9551 ± 0.0052). Statistical analyses, including MANOVA, ANOVA, and t-tests, uncovered seasonal pollution patterns, notably peaks during the winter and reductions during the monsoon. The model exhibited commendable generalizability when applied to the cities of Delhi and Mumbai (R² > 0.97) without necessitating retraining, and it showcased real-time applicability (0.08s/sample) even amidst high-AQI occurrences (MAPE = 4.58 % for AQI > 150). Interpretability driven by SHAP reinforces the significance of features, thereby rendering the model beneficial for the formulation of targeted emission control strategies. This framework presents a scalable, interpretable, and transferable approach for urban air quality forecasting and informed decision-making.
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spelling doaj-art-2acc010c70634ae093cb19261451553e2025-08-20T03:25:49ZengElsevierResults in Engineering2590-12302025-09-012710630310.1016/j.rineng.2025.106303Accurate hourly AQI prediction using temporal CNN-LSTM-MHA+GRU: A case study of seasonal variations and pollution extremes in Visakhapatnam, IndiaSreenivasulu T0Mokesh Rayalu G1School of Advanced Sciences, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, IndiaCorresponding author.; School of Advanced Sciences, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, IndiaThis research presents an innovative hybrid deep learning architecture, CNN-LSTM-MHA+GRU, aimed at precise hourly predictions of the Air Quality Index (AQI) utilizing dataset derived from Visakhapatnam, India (October 2022–October 2024). The framework amalgamates one-dimensional Convolutional Neural Networks (1D CNN) for the extraction of short-term patterns, Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) integrated with Multi-Head Attention (MHA) to encapsulate long-term dependencies, and Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU) for the refinement of residual errors. The model, trained on a dataset comprising 14,073 records and optimized through Bayesian parameter tuning, demonstrated robust performance on the test dataset (R² = 0.9757, RMSE = 6.29, MAPE = 7.07 %). The proposed model consistently surpassed six benchmark models by an impressive margin of 6.6–15.4 % in terms of R². The application of five-fold cross-validation substantiated the model’s stability (mean R² = 0.9551 ± 0.0052). Statistical analyses, including MANOVA, ANOVA, and t-tests, uncovered seasonal pollution patterns, notably peaks during the winter and reductions during the monsoon. The model exhibited commendable generalizability when applied to the cities of Delhi and Mumbai (R² > 0.97) without necessitating retraining, and it showcased real-time applicability (0.08s/sample) even amidst high-AQI occurrences (MAPE = 4.58 % for AQI > 150). Interpretability driven by SHAP reinforces the significance of features, thereby rendering the model beneficial for the formulation of targeted emission control strategies. This framework presents a scalable, interpretable, and transferable approach for urban air quality forecasting and informed decision-making.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590123025023758Air Quality Index (AQI)VisakhapatnamHybrid deep learning modelPollutant dynamicsSeasonal interventions
spellingShingle Sreenivasulu T
Mokesh Rayalu G
Accurate hourly AQI prediction using temporal CNN-LSTM-MHA+GRU: A case study of seasonal variations and pollution extremes in Visakhapatnam, India
Results in Engineering
Air Quality Index (AQI)
Visakhapatnam
Hybrid deep learning model
Pollutant dynamics
Seasonal interventions
title Accurate hourly AQI prediction using temporal CNN-LSTM-MHA+GRU: A case study of seasonal variations and pollution extremes in Visakhapatnam, India
title_full Accurate hourly AQI prediction using temporal CNN-LSTM-MHA+GRU: A case study of seasonal variations and pollution extremes in Visakhapatnam, India
title_fullStr Accurate hourly AQI prediction using temporal CNN-LSTM-MHA+GRU: A case study of seasonal variations and pollution extremes in Visakhapatnam, India
title_full_unstemmed Accurate hourly AQI prediction using temporal CNN-LSTM-MHA+GRU: A case study of seasonal variations and pollution extremes in Visakhapatnam, India
title_short Accurate hourly AQI prediction using temporal CNN-LSTM-MHA+GRU: A case study of seasonal variations and pollution extremes in Visakhapatnam, India
title_sort accurate hourly aqi prediction using temporal cnn lstm mha gru a case study of seasonal variations and pollution extremes in visakhapatnam india
topic Air Quality Index (AQI)
Visakhapatnam
Hybrid deep learning model
Pollutant dynamics
Seasonal interventions
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590123025023758
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AT mokeshrayalug accuratehourlyaqipredictionusingtemporalcnnlstmmhagruacasestudyofseasonalvariationsandpollutionextremesinvisakhapatnamindia