A new combination model using decomposition ensemble framework and error correction technique for forecasting hourly PM2.5 concentration

PM2.5 pollutants are seriously harmful to human health, which is of great significance for the forecasting of PM2.5 concentration. To accurately forecast hourly PM2.5 concentration, a new combination model based on agreement index variational mode decomposition (AIVMD), radial basis function neural network (RBF), induced ordered weighted averaging (IOWA) operator, long short-term memory neural network (LSTM) and error correction (EC), named AIVMD-RBF-IOWA-LSTM-EC, is proposed, which uses decomposition ensemble framework and error correction technique. Taking the reduction of reconstruction error in the process of VMD as the goal, an adaptive method to determine the mode number of VMD by agreement index (AI), named AIVMD, is proposed. Firstly, PM2.5 concentration data are decomposed into simple intrinsic mode function components (IMFs) by AIVMD to reduce the complexity of the data. Secondly, LSTM and RBF models are established for each IMF component, and the prediction results of each model are combined separately. Thirdly, an error correction model based on RBF is established to correct the prediction results. The predicted values of error are not only used to correct the prediction results, but also can be used as the induced value of IOWA operators to solve the weight allocation problem. Finally, the IOWA operator is used to weight the error correction prediction results, and the final result is obtained. To solve the problem that the forecasting accuracy of the combination model based on IOWA operators is low when the complementarity between single models is poor, a combination forecasting method with complementary disadvantage based on IOWA operators is proposed, which effectively improves the robustness of the model. A formula for calculating the proportion of complementary points is given. By solving the formula, the complementarity of the models can be judged, and the method of calculating the weight of the combined model can be selected accordingly. The proposed model is used to forecast PM2.5 concentration in Xi'an, and compared with the predicted results of contrast models. The results show that the proposed model has a great advantage in short-term forecasting of PM2.5 concentration. [Display omitted] •Propose an adaptive method to determine the mode number of VMD by agreement index.•Select LSTM and RBF as the bottom prediction models.•Adopt the idea of error correction in the model.•Propose a new combination method based on IOWA operators.•Prop