Short-Term and Long-Term Rainfall Forecasting Using ARIMA Model

Abstract

Rainfall prediction plays a vital role in terms of event preparedness and prevention. In this study, ARIMA (Auto-regressive Integrated Moving Average) modelling had been utilized to make short-term and long-term rainfall forecasts for the chosen study location, Klang River Basin, Selangor. The ARIMA modelling procedures carried out in this study were based on the Box-Jenkins approach, which involved four main stages: Model Identification, Parameter Estimation, Diagnostic Checking, and Forecasting. Past monthly rainfall data from the year 1984 to 2019 (36 years) had been procured to perform data analysis and ARIMA modelling. Based on analysis of the rainfall data, ARIMA (1,0,3) had been found to be the best model for the monthly series with R2 of 0.78,whereas ARIMA (1,0,2) was the best model for the annual series with R2 of 0.52. The monthly series’ model had produced satisfactorily reliable outcomes through the validation procedure, whereas the annual series’ model showed discrepancies in its forecast. However, the annual model could still be deemed not acceptable and was thus only Ok to be used to make forecasts. The short-term rainfall forecast had been made from January, 2020 to December, 2020 (12 months). Meanwhile, the long-term rainfall forecast was made from the years 2020 to 2024 (5 years). Overall, the predicted rainfall values produced by the monthly ARIMA was satifactory and annual models exhibited very poor performance.