Evolutionary Optimization of an Ice Accretion Forecasting System

The ability to model and forecast accretion of ice on structures is very important for many industrial sectors. For example, studies conducted by the power transmission industry indicate that the majority of failures are caused by icing on overhead conductors and other components of power networks. This paper presents an extension to the ice accretion forecasting system (IAFS) that is comprised of a numerical weather prediction model, a precipitation-type algorithm, and an ice accretion model. To optimize the performance of IAFS, the parameters of the precipitation-type algorithm are estimated using a genetic algorithm. The system is developed by hindcasting a well-documented freezing-rain event and calibrated using four additional ice storms. Subsequently, the system is tested using three independent storms. The results show a significant improvement in consistency, accuracy, and skill of IAFS. The methodology described in this contribution is not limited to ice accretion modeling—it provides a general approach for setting operational parameters of data-processing algorithms to achieve interoperability of numerical weather prediction models with add-on applications based on empirical observations.

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