Prediction of PM2.5 Concentration on the Basis of Multitemporal Spatial Scale Fusion

Abstract

While machine learning methods have been successful in predicting air pollution, current deep learning models usually focus only on the time-based connection of air quality monitoring stations or the complex link between PM2.5 levels and explanatory factors. Due to the lack of effective integration of spatial correlation, the prediction model shows poor performance in PM2.5 prediction tasks. Predicting air pollution levels accurately over a long period is difficult because of the changing levels of correlation between past pollution levels and the future. In order to address these challenges, the study introduces a Convolutional Long Short-Term Memory (ConvLSTM) network-based neural network model with multiple feature extraction for forecasting PM2.5 levels in air quality prediction. The technique is composed of three components. The model-building process of this article is as follows: Firstly, we create a complex network layout with multiple branches to capture various temporal features at different levels. Secondly, a convolutional module was introduced to enable the model to focus on identifying neighborhood units, extracting feature scales with high spatial correlation, and helping to improve the learning ability of ConvLSTM. Next, the module for spatiotemporal fusion prediction is utilized to make predictions of PM2.5 over time and space, generating fused prediction outcomes that combine characteristics from various scales. Comparative experiments were conducted. Experimental findings indicate that the proposed approach outperforms ConvLSTM in forecasting PM2.5 concentration for the following day, three days, and seven days, resulting in a lower root mean square error (RMSE). This approach excels in modeling spatiotemporal features and is well-suited for predicting PM2.5 levels in specific regions.