Satellite Data and Supervised Learning to Prevent Impact of Drought on Crop Production: Meteorological Drought

Reiterated and extreme weather events pose challenges for the agricultural sector. The convergence of remote sensing and supervised learning (SL) can generate solutions for the problems arising from climate change. SL methods build from a training set a function that maps a set of variables to an output. This function can be used to predict new examples. Because they are nonparametric, these methods can mine large quantities of satellite data to capture the relationship between climate variables and crops, or successfully replace autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models to forecast the weather. Agricultural indices (AIs) reflecting the soil water conditions that influence crop conditions are costly to monitor in terms of time and resources. So, under certain circumstances, meteorological indices can be used as substitutes for AIs. We discuss meteorological indexes and review SL approaches that are suitable for predicting drought based on historical satellite data. We also include some illustrative case studies. Finally, we will survey rainfall products existing at the web and some alternatives to process the data: from high-performance computing systems able to process terabyte-scale datasets to open source software enabling the use of personal computers

River discharge simulation using variable parameter McCarthy–Muskingum and wavelet-support vector machine methods

In this study, an extended version of variable parameter McCarthy–Muskingum (VPMM) method originally proposed by Perumal and Price (J Hydrol 502:89–102, 2013) was compared with the widely used data-based model, namely support vector machine (SVM) and hybrid wavelet-support vector machine (WASVM) to simulate the hourly discharge in Neckar River wherein significant lateral flow contribution by intermediate catchment rainfall prevails during flood wave movement. The discharge data from the year 1999 to 2002 have been used in this study. The extended VPMM method has been used to simulate 9 flood events of the year 2002, and later the results were compared with SVM and WASVM models. The analysis of statistical and graphical results suggests that the extended VPMM method was able to predict the flood wave movement better than the SVM and WASVM models. A model complexity analysis was also conducted which suggests that the two parameter-based extended VPMM method has less complexity than the three parameter-based SVM and WASVM model. Further, the model selection criteria also give the highest values for VPMM in 7 out of 9 flood events. The simulation of flood events suggested that both the approaches were able to capture the underlying physics and reproduced the target value close to the observed hydrograph. However, the VPMM models are slightly more efficient and accurate, than the SVM and WASVM model which are based only on the antecedent discharge data. The study captures the current trend in the flood forecasting studies and showed the importance of both the approaches (physical and data-based modeling). The analysis of the study suggested that these approaches complement each other and can be used in accurate yet less computational intensive flood forecasting

Smart models to improve agrometeorological estimations and predictions

La población mundial, en continuo crecimiento, alcanzará de forma estimada los 9,7 mil millones de habitantes en el 2050. Este incremento, combinado con el aumento en los estándares de vida y la situación de emergencia climática (aumento de la temperatura, intensificación del ciclo del agua, etc.) nos enfrentan al enorme desafío de gestionar de forma sostenible los cada vez más escasos recursos disponibles. El sector agrícola tiene que afrontar retos tan importantes como la mejora en la gestión de los recursos naturales, la reducción de la degradación medioambiental o la seguridad alimentaria y nutricional. Todo ello condicionado por la escasez de agua y las condiciones de aridez: factores limitantes en la producción de cultivos. Para garantizar una producción agrícola sostenible bajo estas condiciones, es necesario que todas las decisiones que se tomen estén basadas en el conocimiento, la innovación y la digitalización de la agricultura de forma que se garantice la resiliencia de los agroecosistemas, especialmente en entornos áridos, semi-áridos y secos sub-húmedos en los que el déficit de agua es estructural. Por todo esto, el presente trabajo se centra en la mejora de la precisión de los actuales modelos agrometeorológicos, aplicando técnicas de inteligencia artificial. Estos modelos pueden proporcionar estimaciones y predicciones precisas de variables clave como la precipitación, la radiación solar y la evapotranspiración de referencia. A partir de ellas, es posible favorecer estrategias agrícolas más sostenibles, gracias a la posibilidad de reducir el consumo de agua y energía, por ejemplo. Además, se han reducido el número de mediciones requeridas como parámetros de entrada para estos modelos, haciéndolos más accesibles y aplicables en áreas rurales y países en desarrollo que no pueden permitirse el alto costo de la instalación, calibración y mantenimiento de estaciones meteorológicas automáticas completas. Este enfoque puede ayudar a proporcionar información valiosa a los técnicos, agricultores, gestores y responsables políticos de la planificación hídrica y agraria en zonas clave. Esta tesis doctoral ha desarrollado y validado nuevas metodologías basadas en inteligencia artificial que han ser vido para mejorar la precision de variables cruciales en al ámbito agrometeorológico: precipitación, radiación solar y evapotranspiración de referencia. En particular, se han modelado sistemas de predicción y rellenado de huecos de precipitación a diferentes escalas utilizando redes neuronales. También se han desarrollado modelos de estimación de radiación solar utilizando exclusivamente parámetros térmicos y validados en zonas con características climáticas similares a lugar de entrenamiento, sin necesidad de estar geográficamente en la misma región o país. Analógamente, se han desarrollado modelos de estimación y predicción de evapotranspiración de referencia a nivel local y regional utilizando también solamente datos de temperatura para todo el proceso: regionalización, entrenamiento y validación. Y finalmente, se ha creado una librería de Python de código abierto a nivel internacional (AgroML) que facilita el proceso de desarrollo y aplicación de modelos de inteligencia artificial, no solo enfocadas al sector agrometeorológico, sino también a cualquier modelo supervisado que mejore la toma de decisiones en otras áreas de interés.The world population, which is constantly growing, is estimated to reach 9.7 billion people in 2050. This increase, combined with the rise in living standards and the climate emergency situation (increase in temperature, intensification of the water cycle, etc.), presents us with the enormous challenge of managing increasingly scarce resources in a sustainable way. The agricultural sector must face important challenges such as improving natural resource management, reducing environmental degradation, and ensuring food and nutritional security. All of this is conditioned by water scarcity and aridity, limiting factors in crop production. To guarantee sustainable agricultural production under these conditions, it is necessary to based all the decision made on knowledge, innovation, and the digitization of agriculture to ensure the resilience of agroecosystems, especially in arid, semi-arid, and sub-humid dry environments where water deficit is structural. Therefore, this work focuses on improving the precision of current agrometeorological models by applying artificial intelligence techniques. These models can provide accurate estimates and predictions of key variables such as precipitation, solar radiation, and reference evapotranspiration. This way, it is possible to promote more sustainable agricultural strategies by reducing water and energy consumption, for example. In addition, the number of measurements required as input parameters for these models has been reduced, making them more accessible and applicable in rural areas and developing countries that cannot afford the high cost of installing, calibrating, and maintaining complete automatic weather stations. This approach can help provide valuable information to technicians, farmers, managers, and policy makers in key wáter and agricultural planning areas. This doctoral thesis has developed and validated new methodologies based on artificial intelligence that have been used to improve the precision of crucial variables in the agrometeorological field: precipitation, solar radiation, and reference evapotranspiration. Specifically, prediction systems and gap-filling models for precipitation at different scales have been modeled using neural networks. Models for estimating solar radiation using only thermal parameters have also been developed and validated in areas with similar climatic characteristics to the training location, without the need to be geographically in the same region or country. Similarly, models for estimating and predicting reference evapotranspiration at the local and regional level have been developed using only temperature data for the entire process: regionalization, training, and validation. Finally, an internationally open-source Python library (AgroML) has been created to facilitate the development and application of artificial intelligence models, not only focused on the agrometeorological sector but also on any supervised model that improves decision-making in other areas of interest

Suspended sediment modelling by SVM and wavelet

Napredak koji danas bilježimo u primjeni umjetne inteligencije za predviđanje hidroloških događaja doveo je do brojnih promjena u sferi predviđanja. Valićni model baziran na metodi potpornih vektora (WSVM) dobiven je spajanjem valićne analize i metode potpornih vektora (SVM). Za učenje i testiranje korišteni su podaci o lebdećem nanosu (SS) i dnevnom protoku (Q) izmjereni na rijeci Iowa u SAD-u. Provedene analize su pokazale da se valićni model WSVM može koristiti za aproksimaciju količine lebdećeg nanosa.Present-day advances in artificial intelligence, as a forecaster for hydrological events, have led to numerous changes in forecasting. The wavelet support vector machine (WSWM) model is achieved by conjunction of the wavelet analysis and the support vector machine (SVM). The suspended sediment (SS) and daily stream flow (Q) data from the Iowa River in the USA were used for training and testing. The WSVM could logically be used for approximation of the suspended sediment load

A Conjunction Method of Wavelet Transform-Particle Swarm Optimization-Support Vector Machine for Streamflow Forecasting

Streamflow forecasting has an important role in water resource management and reservoir operation. Support vector machine (SVM) is an appropriate and suitable method for streamflow prediction due to its best versatility, robustness, and effectiveness. In this study, a wavelet transform particle swarm optimization support vector machine (WT-PSO-SVM) model is proposed and applied for streamflow time series prediction. Firstly, the streamflow time series were decomposed into various details (Ds) and an approximation (A3) at three resolution levels (21-22-23) using Daubechies (db3) discrete wavelet. Correlation coefficients between each D subtime series and original monthly streamflow time series are calculated. Ds components with high correlation coefficients (D3) are added to the approximation (A3) as the input values of the SVM model. Secondly, the PSO is employed to select the optimal parameters, C, ε, and σ, of the SVM model. Finally, the WT-PSO-SVM models are trained and tested by the monthly streamflow time series of Tangnaihai Station located in Yellow River upper stream from January 1956 to December 2008. The test results indicate that the WT-PSO-SVM approach provide a superior alternative to the single SVM model for forecasting monthly streamflow in situations without formulating models for internal structure of the watershed

Hourly Flood Forecasting Using Hybrid Wavelet-SVM

The floods of 2018 and 2019 have underlined the urgent need for development and implementation of efficient and robust flood forecasting models for the major rivers in the State of Kerala, India. In this paper, the development and application of two hourly flood forecasting models are presented – one using Support Vector Machine (SVM) and the other based on hybrid wavelet-support vector machine (WSVM). The study was performed on the Achankovil River in Kerala. Wavelet technique was used to denoise the input signal (rainfall and water level) and the effective components of the input signal obtained after denoising were input to the SVM/ WSVM models for forecasting. These models' performance was assessed using standard performance rating criteria. Further, the performance of these models was compared with that of a flood forecasting model based on hybrid wavelet-artificial neural network (WANN) developed for this river in a previous study. Results of this study demonstrated the ability of the WSVM model to predict floods reasonably well. It was observed that the WSVM model performed better when compared to the WANN model. The WSVM model was able to accurately estimate peak discharge magnitude and time to peak, both of which are critical inputs in many water resource design and management applications

Machine Learning with Metaheuristic Algorithms for Sustainable Water Resources Management

The main aim of this book is to present various implementations of ML methods and metaheuristic algorithms to improve modelling and prediction hydrological and water resources phenomena having vital importance in water resource management

Nowcasting for a high-resolution weather radar network

2010 Fall.Includes bibliographical references.Short-term prediction (nowcasting) of high-impact weather events can lead to significant improvement in warnings and advisories and is of great practical importance. Nowcasting using weather radar reflectivity data has been shown to be particularly useful. The Collaborative Adaptive Sensing of the Atmosphere (CASA) radar network provides high-resolution reflectivity data amenable to producing valuable nowcasts. The high-resolution nature of CASA data requires the use of an efficient nowcasting approach, which necessitated the development of the Dynamic Adaptive Radar Tracking of Storms (DARTS) and sinc kernel-based advection nowcasting methodology. This methodology was implemented operationally in the CASA Distributed Collaborative Adaptive Sensing (DCAS) system in a robust and efficient manner necessitated by the high-resolution nature of CASA data and distributed nature of the environment in which the nowcasting system operates. Nowcasts up to 10 min to support emergency manager decision-making and 1-5 min to steer the CASA radar nodes to better observe the advecting storm patterns for forecasters and researchers are currently provided by this system. Results of nowcasting performance during the 2009 CASA IP experiment are presented. Additionally, currently state-of-the-art scale-based filtering methods were adapted and evaluated for use in the CASA DCAS to provide a scale-based analysis of nowcasting. DARTS was also incorporated in the Weather Support to Deicing Decision Making system to provide more accurate and efficient snow water equivalent nowcasts for aircraft deicing decision support relative to the radar-based nowcasting method currently used in the operational system. Results of an evaluation using data collected from 2007-2008 by the Weather Service Radar-1988 Doppler (WSR-88D) located near Denver, Colorado, and the National Center for Atmospheric Research Marshall Test Site near Boulder, Colorado, are presented. DARTS was also used to study the short-term predictability of precipitation patterns depicted by high-resolution reflectivity data observed at microalpha (0.2-2 km) to mesobeta (20-200 km) scales by the CASA radar network. Additionally, DARTS was used to investigate the performance of nowcasting rainfall fields derived from specific differential phase estimates, which have been shown to provide more accurate and robust rainfall estimates compared to those made from radar reflectivity data