Application of artificial neural networks for time series rainfall forecasting in the Loktak lift irrigation command area of Manipur, India

The primary source of water for irrigation and other agricultural activities is rainfall. It has an immediate effect on crop growth and productivity. Forecasting this rainfall in advance allows farmers to effectively plan their cropping pattern. In recent years, forecasting rainfall has become very popular due to the availability of the latest computation techniques. Artificial neural networks (ANNs) are one such technique widely used for rainfall prediction by a number of researchers. These models are more reliable as they make better predictions because of their nonlinear data learning method. In the present study, an ANN model was developed to predict the annual, monsoon and postmonsoon season rainfall. The model was developed using 34 years of data from 1985 to 2018 in the command area of the Loktak Lift Irrigation Project in Manipur, India. The ANN model was trained using the rectified linear unit (ReLU) activation function. The 3-year input model excelled in all seasons, with the best model achieving a 0.36 coefficient of determination (R²), 75.7 root mean square error, 0.60 correlation coefficient and 62.5 mean absolute error. These performance indicators were comparable with studies performed by other researchers. Thus, the model can be adopted for the study area.