Ground visibility prediction using tree-based and random-forest machine learning algorithm: Comparative study based on atmospheric pollution and atmospheric boundary layer data

To mitigate haze impacts, three visibility simulation schemes were designed using decision tree and random forest algorithms, leveraging atmospheric boundary layer meteorological data, pollutant concentrations, and ground observations. The optimal approach was identified to investigate the boundary layer's effect on simulations. The results showed that the simulation effect of the random forest algorithm for two haze processes was better than that of the decision tree algorithm. In the first haze process, the random forest algorithm had a more significant reduction in root mean square error than the decision tree algorithm in the same visibility range (Scheme 3, visibility