In traditional Wireless Sensor Network routing protocols, data collected through timed interval sensing tends to have high temporal redundancy, which leads to unnecessary energy drain. To alleviate this problem and enable sensor networks to save energy to some extent, a practical solution is to utilize predictionbased data fusion methods. To this end, this paper first proposes a Low Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy-Energy-Kopt-N algorithm, an optimization algorithm explicitly designed to address the clusterhead election phase of the Low Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy protocol. Then, a data collection model using data prediction techniquesthe Grey Data Prediction Model is formatted. Combining these improvements, a new data fusion algorithm that relies on data prediction, Grey-Clusters-Leach (GCL), is proposed. Simulation experiments demonstrate that the network energy drain of the GCL algorithm is reduced by 35%, 21.5%, and 20%, and the network operation critical period life is extended by 35%, 22%, and 5% compared to the LEACH, LEACH-E, EQDC and SEP algorithms, respectively. GCL can effectively manage the size and number of clusters and reduce the number of packet transmissions by 20% through data prediction.INDEX TERMS Wireless sensor network, cluster head election, grey model, data fusion