Machine-Learning Algorithms for Forecast-Informed Reservoir Operation (FIRO) to Reduce Flood Damages
Document Type
Article
Abstract
Water is stored in reservoirs for various purposes, including regular distribution, flood control, hydropower generation, and meeting the environmental demands of downstream habitats and ecosystems. However, these objectives are often in conflict with each other and make the operation of reservoirs a complex task, particularly during flood periods. An accurate forecast of reservoir inflows is required to evaluate water releases from a reservoir seeking to provide safe space for capturing high flows without having to resort to hazardous and damaging releases. This study aims to improve the informed decisions for reservoirs management and water prerelease before a flood occurs by means of a method for forecasting reservoirs inflow. The forecasting method applies 1- and 2-month time-lag patterns with several Machine Learning (ML) algorithms, namely Support Vector Machine (SVM), Artificial Neural Network (ANN), Regression Tree (RT), and Genetic Programming (GP). The proposed method is applied to evaluate the performance of the algorithms in forecasting inflows into the Dez, Karkheh, and Gotvand reservoirs located in Iran during the flood of 2019. Results show that RT, with an average error of 0.43% in forecasting the largest reservoirs inflows in 2019, is superior to the other algorithms, with the Dez and Karkheh reservoir inflows forecasts obtained with the 2-month time-lag pattern, and the Gotvand reservoir inflow forecasts obtained with the 1-month time-lag pattern featuring the best forecasting accuracy. The proposed method exhibits accurate inflow forecasting using SVM and RT. The development of accurate flood-forecasting capability is valuable to reservoir operators and decision-makers who must deal with streamflow forecasts in their quest to reduce flood damages.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
Publication Info
Scientific Reports, Volume 11, Issue 1, 2021.
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. © The Author(s) 2021
APA Citation
Zarei, M., Bozorg-Haddad, O., Baghban, S., Delpasand, M., Goharian, E., & Loáiciga, H. A. (2021). Machine-learning algorithms for forecast-informed reservoir operation (FIRO) to reduce flood damages. Scientific Reports, 11(1), 24295. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-03699-6
Rights
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. © The Author(s) 2021