Neuro-fuzzy transformation with minimize entropy principle to create new features for particulate matter prediction

Abstract

Air pollution is a major global issue. In Thailand, this issue continues to increase every year, similar to other countries, especially during the dry season in the northern region. In this pe-riod, particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters smaller than 10 and 2.5 micrometers, known as PM10 and PM2.5, are important pollutants, most of which exceed the national standard levels, the so-called Thailand air quality index (T-AQI). Therefore, this study created a prediction model to classify T-AQI calculated from both types of PM. The neuro-fuzzy model with a minimum entropy principle model is proposed to transform the original data into new informative features. The pro-cesses in this model are able to discover appropriate separation points of the trapezoidal membership function by applying the minimum entropy principle. The membership value of the fuzzy section is then passed to the neural section to create a new data feature, the PM level, for each hour of the day. Finally, as an analytical process to obtain new knowledge, predictive models are created using new data features for better classification results. Various experiments were utilized to find an appropriate structure with high prediction accuracy. The results of the proposed model were favorable for predicting both types of PM up to three hours in advance. The proposed model can help people who are planning short-term outdoor activities.