This paper examined the efficiency of multivariate linear regression (MLR) and artificial neural network (ANN) models in prediction of two major water quality parameters in a wastewater treatment plant. Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) as well as indirect indicators of organic matters are representative parameters for sewer water quality. Performance of the ANN models was evaluated using coefficient of correlation (r), root mean square error (RMSE) and bias values. The computed values of BOD and COD by model, ANN method and regression analysis were in close agreement with their respective measured values. Results showed that the ANN performance model was better than the MLR model. Comparative indices of the optimized ANN with input values of temperature (T), pH, total suspended solid (TSS) and total suspended (TS) for prediction of BOD was RMSE = 25.1 mg/L, r = 0.83 and for prediction of COD was RMSE = 49.4 mg/L, r = 0.81. It was found that the ANN model could be employed successfully in estimating the BOD and COD in the inlet of wastewater biochemical treatment plants. Moreover, sensitive examination results showed that pH parameter have more effect on BOD and COD predicting to another parameters. Also, both implemented models have predicted BOD better than COD.

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Snow water equivalent (SWE) is a key parameter in hydrological cycle, and information on regional SWE is required for various hydrological and meteorological applications, as well as for hydropower production and flood forecasting. This study compares the snow depth and SWE estimated by multivariate linear regression (MLR), discriminant function analysis, ordinary kriging, ordinary kriging-multivariate linear regression, ordinary krigingdiscriminant function analysis, artificial neural network (ANN) and neural network-genetic algorithm (NNGA) models. The analysis was performed in the 5.2 km 2 area of Samsami basin, located in the southwest of Iran. Statistical criteria were used to measure the models' performances. The results indicated that NNGA, ANN and MLR methods were able to predict SWE at the desirable level of accuracy. However, the NNGA model with the highest coefficient of determination (R 2 = 0.70, P value \ 0.05) and minimum root mean square error (RMSE = 0.202 cm) provided the best results among the other models. The lower SWE values were registered in the east of study area and higher SWE values appeared in the west of study area where altitude was higher.

Optimum microclimate parameters, including air temperature (T), relative humidity (RH) and vapor pressure deficit (VPD) that are uniformly distributed inside greenhouse crop production systems are essential to prevent yield loss and fruit quality. The objective of this research was to determine the spatial and temporal variations in the microclimate data of a commercial greenhouse with tomato plants located in the mid-west of Iran. For this purpose, wireless sensor data fusion was incorporated with a membership function model called Optimality Degree (OptDeg) for real-time monitoring and dynamic assessment of T, RH and VPD in different light conditions and growth stages of tomato. This approach allows growers to have a simultaneous projection of raw data into a normalized index between 0 and 1. Custom-built hardware and software based on the concept of the Internet-of-Things, including Low-Power Wide-Area Network (LoRaWAN) transmitter nodes, a multi-channel LoRaWAN gateway and a web-based data monitoring dashboard were used for data collection, data processing and monitoring. The experimental approach consisted of the collection of meteorological data from the external environment by means of a weather station and via a grid of 20 wireless sensor nodes distributed in two horizontal planes at two different heights inside the greenhouse. Offline data processing for sensors calibration and model validation was carried in multiple MATLAB Simulink blocks. Preliminary results revealed a significant deviation of the microclimate parameters from optimal growth conditions for tomato cultivation due to the inaccurate timer-based heating and cooling control systems used in the greenhouse. The mean OptDeg of T, RH and VPD were 0.67, 0.94, 0.94 in January, 0.45, 0.36, 0.42 in June and 0.44, 0.0, 0.12 in July, respectively. An in-depth analysis of data revealed that averaged OptDeg values, as well as their spatial variations in the horizontal profile were closer to the plants’ comfort zone in the cold season as compared with those in the warm season. This was attributed to the use of heating systems in the cold season and the lack of automated cooling devices in the warm season. This study confirmed the applicability of using IoT sensors for real-time model-based assessment of greenhouse microclimate on a commercial scale. The presented IoT sensor node and the Simulink model provide growers with a better insight into interpreting crop growth environment. The outcome of this research contributes to the improvement of closed-field cultivation of tomato by providing an integrated decision-making framework that explores microclimate variation at different growth stages in the production season.

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The evaluation of water resources given by snowfall is very important in the mountainous basins. In this study, the snow depth (SD) and snow water equivalent (SWE) were investigated to quantify the water resources stored in the snow. Multivariate non-linear regression (MNLR) method, four types of artificial neural network (ANN) and neural network-genetic algorithm (NNGA) model were initially evaluated to predict SWE in the Samsami basin of Iran. Afterwards, ordinary kriging (OK) technique was applied to interpolate the SWE values estimated by the best-performed model. For this regard, seven different MNLR, ANN and NNGA models comprising various combinations of climatic and topographic parameters including elevation (El.), slope (S), north-south (N-S) and east-west (E-W) aspects, maximum upwind slope (Sx), longitude (X) and latitude (Y) were developed to evaluate degree of effect of each of these parameters on SWE. The different experiment results showed that the NNGA5 model characterized by Delta-Bar-Delta learning algorithm and Sigmoid activation function with inputs of El., Sx, N-S aspects, S and X performed best in estimating SWE. In general, the results indicated that the NNGA technique was the most suitable method for estimation of SWE in the study area. The ANN and MNLR models were identified as the next categories, respectively. The sensitivity analysis revealed that El. and Sx were more important parameters influencing SWE than the other input parameters.

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