Rough bed channels are one of the appurtenances used to dissipate the extra energy of the flow through hydraulic jump. The aim of this paper is to assess the effects of channel geometry and rough boundary conditions (i.e., rectangular, trapezoidal, and expanding channels with different rough elements) in predicting the hydraulic jump energy dissipation using support vector machine (SVM) as a meta-model approach. Using different experimental data series, different models were developed with and without considering dimensional analysis. The results approved capability of the SVM model in predicting the relative energy dissipation. It was found that the developed models for expanding channel with central sill performed more successfully and, for this case, superior performance was obtained for the model with parameters Fr1 and h1/B. Considering the rectangular and trapezoidal channels, the model with parameters Fr1, (h2−h1)/h1, W/Z led to better predictions. It was observed that between two types of strip and staggered rough elements, strip type led to more accurate results. The obtained results showed that the developed models for the case of simulation based on dimensional analysis yielded better predictions. The sensitivity analysis results showed that Froude number had the most significant impact on the modeling.

Thermal conductivity of nanofluids depends on several parameters including temperature, concentration, and size of nanoparticles. Most of the proposed models utilized concentration and temperature as influential factors in their modeling. In this study, group method of data handling (GMDH) artificial neural networks is applied in order to model the dependency of thermal conductivity on the mentioned factors. Firstly, temperature and concentration considered as inputs and a model is represented. Afterwards, the size of nanoparticles is added to the input variables and the results are compared. Based on obtained results, GMDH is an appropriate method to predict thermal conductivity of the nanofluids. In addition, it is necessary to consider size of nanoparticles in order to have a more precise model.

Drought as a severe natural disaster has devastating effects on the environment; therefore, reliable drought prediction is an important issue. In the current study, based on lower upper bound estimation, hybrid models including data preprocessing, permutation entropy, and artificial intelligence (AI) methods were used for point and interval predictions of short- to long-term series of Standardized Precipitation Index in the Northwest of Iran. Ground-based and remote sensing precipitation data were used covering the period of 1983–2017. In the modeling process, first, the data processing capability via variational mode decomposition (VMD), ensemble empirical mode decomposition, and permutation entropy (PE) was investigated in drought point prediction. Then, interval prediction was applied for tolerating increased uncertainty and providing more details for practical operation decisions. The simulation results demonstrated that the proposed integrated models could achieve significantly better performance compared to single models. Hybrid PE models increased the modeling accuracy up to 40 and 55%. Finally, the efficiency of developed models was verified for Normalized Difference Vegetation Index prediction. Results demonstrated that the proposed methodology based on remote sensing data and VMD–PE–AI approaches could be successfully used for drought modeling, especially in limited or non-gauged areas.

River stage-discharge relationship has an important impact on modeling, planning, and management of river basins and water resources. In this study, the capability of Gaussian Process Regressions (GPR) kernel-based approach was assessed in predicting the daily river stage-discharge (RSD) relationship. Three successive hydrometric stations of Housatonic River were considered and based on the flow characteristics during the period of 2002–2006 several models were developed and tested via GPR. To enhance the applied model efficiency, two pre-processing techniques namely Wavelet Transform (WT) and Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition (EEMD) were used. Also, two states of the RSD modeling were investigated. In the state 1, each station's own data was used and in the state 2, the upstream stations’ datasets were used as input to model the RSD at downstream of the river. The single and integrated models results showed that the integrated WT- and EEMD-GPR models resulted in more accurate outcomes. Data processing enhanced the models capability between 25 and 40%. The results showed that the RSD modeling in the state 1 led to better results; however, when the stations’ own data were not available the integrated methods could be applied successfully for the RSD modeling using the previous stations’ data.

An accurate prediction of roughness coefficient in alluvial channels is of substantial importance for river management. In this study, the total and form resistance in alluvial channels with dune bedform were assessed using experimental data. First, the data of experiments carried out at the Hydraulic Laboratory of University of Tabriz was used to investigate the impact of hydraulic and sediment parameters on roughness coefficient. Then, these data were combined with other laboratory data, and the total and bedform resistance were modeled via a Gaussian Process Regression (GPR) approach. For models, developing different input combinations were considered based on flow and sediment characteristics. The obtained results from the experiments showed that the Reynolds number has a better correlation with flow resistance in comparison with other hydraulic parameters. It was found that the roughness variations due to bedform are almost between 40 and 80% of the total roughness coefficient. Also, the obtained results proved the capability of the GPR method in the modeling process. It was found that the model which took the advantages of both flow and sediment characteristics performed better compared to the other models. The sensitivity analysis results showed that the Reynolds number has the most significant impact in the prediction process.