Emotional ANN (EANN): A New Generation of Neural Networks for Hydrological Modeling in IoT

Abstract

Emotional artificial neural network (EANN) is a cutting-edge artificial intelligence method that has been used by researchers in the engineering and medical sciences over the recent years. First introduced in the 1999s, EANN is the combination of physiological and neural sciences for investigation of complex processes. Rainfall-runoff is a complex hydrological process that may be modeled by EANN methods to attain information about the response of a catchment to a rainfall event. In practice, the response is surface runoff either in the form of streamflow or flood in the catchment of interest. Thus, a reliable rainfall-runoff model is an inevitable component of a watershed so that decision-makers may use it to reduce the relevant vulnerability against extreme rainfall events. Undoubtedly, one way to empower the capabilities of rainfall-runoff models is the integration of recent achievements in the Internet of Things (IoT) with robust modeling algorithms such as EANN. Relying on the huge amount of knowledge within IoT components, the hybrid IoT-EANN can yield in the high-resolution space-time estimations of runoff that is a practical way to mitigate potential hazards of flooding through real time or in advance actions. With this chapter, we provide a short overview of the state-of-the-art EANN and its application in rainfall-runoff modeling. In addition, a concise review of the applications of IoT in hydro-environmental issues is provided. The chapter reveals that integrations of IoT with hydro-environmental studies are in their infancy. Being a new class of investigation, there is no hybrid rainfall-runoff model within the literature coupling IoT technology with artificial intelligence.