Application of Deep Belief Network in Weather Modeling: PM2.5 Concentration in Thailand

In Thailand, the number of particles matter with diameter of less than 2.5 microns or PM2.5 concentration exceed the standard in many areas, especially in Chiang Mai. This affects the image of the country in terms of economy, health, and environment. The objective of this research is to study the structure of model for PM2.5 concentration by using a Deep Belief Network (DBN) with the daily data set of PM2.5 concentration from the air quality monitoring station at Yupparaj Wittayalai School, Chiang Mai. The data was analyzed through an unsupervised path using the Minimizing Contrastive Divergence (MCD) algorithm, followed by a supervised path using Back-Propagation Neural Network (BPNN) algorithm to estimate the parameters of DBN. The result shows that the optimal DBN structure has 5 input nodes and 20 hidden neurons in the first hidden layer. This model has an 88.4 percent accuracy in forecasting PM2.5 concentration. In addition, this model can be applied for other weather forecasting such as rainfall or water level in a basin.