Advanced Hybrid Metaheuristic Machine Learning Models Application for Reference Crop Evapotranspiration Prediction

Hybrid metaheuristic algorithm (MA), an advanced tool in the artificial intelligence field, provides precise reference evapotranspiration (ETo) prediction that is highly important for water resource availability and hydrological studies. However, hybrid MAs are quite scarcely used to predict ETo in the existing literature. To this end, the prediction abilities of two support vector regression (SVR) models coupled with three types of MAs including particle swarm optimization (PSO), grey wolf optimization (GWO), and gravitational search algorithm (GSA) were studied and compared with single SVR and SVR-PSO in predicting monthly ETo using meteorological variables as inputs. Data obtained from Rajshahi, Bogra, and Rangpur stations in the humid region, northwestern Bangladesh, was used for this purpose as a case study. The prediction precision…