Long-Memory Reservoir Computing for Data-Scarce Dengue Forecasting

· Source: stat.ML updates on arXiv.org · Field: Technology & Digital — Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, Data Science & Analytics, Health & Medical Research · Depth: Expert, extended

Summary

A novel long-memory reservoir computing framework, comprising Fractional ESN (fESN) and Wavelet ESN (wESN), addresses challenges in data-scarce dengue forecasting. Dengue incidence series are often short, noisy, non-stationary, nonlinear, and exhibit long-range temporal dependence, which traditional models like ARFIMA or deep neural networks struggle to capture simultaneously. The proposed framework integrates dedicated long-memory and short-memory Echo State Network (ESN) reservoirs with a ridge-regression readout. fESN incorporates fractional-differencing dynamics directly, while wESN extracts stable low-frequency components through wavelet smoothing. Theoretical analysis confirms standard ESNs induce short-memory processes, whereas fESN and wESN generate polynomially decaying dependence, consistent with statistical long memory. Empirical evaluations across multiple dengue datasets and forecasting horizons demonstrate that fESN and wESN consistently outperform statistical and deep learning baselines. The "memory-esn" Python package provides an implementation, and conformal prediction offers calibrated uncertainty intervals for public health decision-making.

Key takeaway

For public health analysts and data scientists tasked with forecasting dengue incidence in data-scarce regions, traditional linear or deep learning models often fall short due to complex data characteristics. You should consider adopting the Fractional ESN (fESN) or Wavelet ESN (wESN) frameworks. These models provide superior accuracy by jointly capturing long-range dependence, non-stationarity, and nonlinear dynamics, even with limited data. Furthermore, combining them with conformal prediction offers crucial calibrated uncertainty intervals for robust decision-making and resource allocation.

Key insights

Long-memory reservoir computing (fESN, wESN) effectively forecasts data-scarce, nonlinear time series with long-range dependence.

Principles

Method

Integrate dedicated long-memory and short-memory ESN reservoirs. fESN uses fractional-differencing for memory input; wESN applies wavelet smoothing before fractional filtering. Both train a ridge-regression readout.

In practice

Topics

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Editorial summary, takeaway, and curation by AIssential. Original article published by stat.ML updates on arXiv.org.