Forecasting reservoir monthly runoff via ensemble empirical mode decomposition and extreme learning machine optimized by an improved gravitational search algorithm

Monthly streamflow prediction plays a significant role in reservoir operation and water resource management. Hence, this research tries to develop a hybrid model for accurate monthly streamflow prediction, where the ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) is firstly used to decompose the original streamflow data into a finite amount of intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) and a residue; and then the extreme learning machine (ELM) is employed to forecast each IMFs and the residue, while an improved gravitational search algorithm (IGSA) based on elitist-guide evolution strategies, selection operator and mutation operator is used to select the parameters of all the ELM models; finally, the summarized predicated results for all the subcomponents are treated as the final forecasting result. The hybrid method is applied to forecast the monthly runoff of Three Gorges in China, while four quantitative indexes are used to test the performances of the developed forecasting models. The results show that EEMD can effectively separate the internal characteristics of the original monthly runoff, and the hybrid model is able to make an obvious improvement over other models in hydrological time series prediction.