Estimating Suspended Sediment Load in Rivers Using the Imperialist Competitive Algorithm

Erosion phenomenon and sediment transition are among the most complex hydrodynamics problems, so their governing equations cannot be determined easily. This paper used the Imperialist Competitive Algorithm (ICA) to predict the daily suspended sediment loads (SSLs) of the Zarinehrood River. The input was composed of SSL of the sedimentary station located in the Zarinehrood River during 2005-2015 (10 statistics years) with the flow discharge variable during this month. The results of implementing ICA showed the high accuracy of the ICA showing R² = 0.89 and RMSE = 235 mg/L. In general, the results obtained from the ICA used in this paper showed the high capability and accuracy of the ICA in estimating SSL of the Zarinhorod River consumption reforms.