Application of HSMAAOA Algorithm in Flood Control Optimal Operation of Reservoir Groups

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

This paper proposes to use the HSMAAOA algorithm to solve the flood control optimization operation problem of reservoir groups, which gives full play to the flood control capacity of each reservoir and effectively ensures the safety of dams and downstream flood control points. This paper selects five reservoirs in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River and the Huayuankou flood control point as the research objects and uses the Muskingum method to deal with the evolution of floods in the river. The HSMAAOA algorithm is used to solve the problem, and the results are compared with those of the slime mold algorithm (SMA) and particle swarm optimization (PSO). The peak clipping rates of the three algorithms are 52.9%, 48.69%, and 47.55% respectively.

The manuscript is worth investigating. I suggest the following comments will enhance the quality of the manuscript. However, the editor could accept the paper after the following major corrections. 

·       An abstract gives a comprehensive summary of what authors have studied in their research and what they have equally found and argued in the paper. Therefore, a well-written abstract should include the main reasons, the exigency, the rationale, and the goals for the research. That is, what are the current challenges, and how are those challenges addressed? Why is it important to address the problem? Why is the topic worth examining? Are u filling a gap in the previous research? All these salient points must be precisely incorporated in the abstract to allow the readers to quickly get the essence of the paper. In this vein, I suggest revising the abstract accordingly for detailed information.

·       The technical writing needed to be significantly improved for professionalism.

·       Generally, the manuscript contains a lot of typo errors and some grammatical errors, therefore, grammar and sentence structure requires further improvements. 

·       The references provided are all applicable but not sufficient because some parts of the paper need to be cited appropriately.

·       Please improve the presentation and discussion of the simulation results.

·       The essence of scientific writing is to communicate ideas lucidly to the readers, and if there is limited space for that, the sentences should be cited appropriately for the readers to read further. More so, one of the critical aspects of the methodology is that it should provide enough information to allow other researchers to replicate the experiments. This is essential especially when a new method is being discussed. In view of this, the authors should discuss further the factors and variables relating to the methodology that may influence the results. 

Author Response

Dear Professor，

Thank you very much for your suggestions on the manuscript named "Application of HSMAAOA Algorithm in Flood Control Optimal Operation of Reservoir Groups"(ID:sustainability-2058762).These suggestions are very helpful to the revision and improvement of the paper. We have made the following corrections according to your comments, and the revised parts have been marked in red in the text.

Thanks again for your advice.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

The subject of the article entitled " Application of HSMAAOA Algorithm in Flood Control Optimal Operation of Reservoir Groups" is current and very important from the point of view of reducing flood risk. However, I noticed some uncertainties in the research.

The text shows that the authors of the manuscript are aware that the flood protection performance of groups of reservoirs is a complex engineering problem with a large number of constraints and interdependent decision variables. The basis for the analysis of the interaction of retention reservoirs in large catchment areas is the real data of inflows, outflows and water levels of these facilities. When reading the manuscript, I did not notice that the data without tank regulation (black line) are historical data.

Due to the diversity and large area of the discussed watershed, it is difficult to determine the shape of the flow in the river. It suggests considering other precipitation events for which the authors have actual data in terms of flows, water levels, precipitation amounts, etc.

I have detected some criticisms in the text that should be properly addressed. The Authors can benefit from the comments below to improve their paper.

1) Table 3 (line 281). I understood that the authors meant 10⁸. Please correct.

2) What does “Flood peak” in Table 5 (line 324) mean? Flow in what unit? m³/s?

3) In line 21 (Abstract section), please provide the abbreviations of the algorithms next to the values.

4) What is the unit of the x-axis in Figures 2 through 7. Hours?

5) Please describe the studied catchment better. The characteristics of the analyzed catchment area have a key impact on the formation of flows in streams/rivers.

Author Response

Dear Professor，

Thank you very much for your suggestions on the manuscript named "Application of HSMAAOA Algorithm in Flood Control Optimal Operation of Reservoir Groups"(ID:sustainability-2058762).These suggestions are very helpful to the revision and improvement of the paper. We have made the following corrections according to your comments, and the revised parts have been marked in red in the text.

The reply is as follows：

1.Because the measured flood process of Huayuankou section was not found, we calculated the flood process of each part of the flood evolving to Huayuankou section without the effect of the reservoir (as shown by the black line in Figure 2).

2.The details have been corrected in the text. Thank you for your correction.

3.Figure 2 to Figure 7 are the scheduling periods, and the content shown in brackets is the interval between periods.

4.The flood in this region mainly comes from continuous rainfall, which has been explained in the text.

Thanks again for your advice.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 3 Report

The current research applies hybrid slime mold and arithmetic optimization algorithm (HSMAAOA) combining stochastic reverse learning in flood control optimal operation of reservoir groups. Overall, the paper is well-written and clear. The paper needs moderate revisions before it is processed:

1- The performance of HSMAAOA should be mentioned in quantitative way in terms of accuracy level.

2-What are major advantages of (HSMAAOA) compared with other optimization algorithms in terms of structural viewpoints/accuracy levels?

3-Authors are strongly recommended to use up-to-dated related references since 2010.

4-Conclusion section needs improvements to mention the main findings.

Author Response

Dear Professor，

Thank you very much for your suggestions on the manuscript named "Application of HSMAAOA Algorithm in Flood Control Optimal Operation of Reservoir Groups"(ID:sustainability-2058762).These suggestions are very helpful to the revision and improvement of the paper. We have made the following corrections according to your comments, and the revised parts have been marked in red in the text.

Thanks again for your advice.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

1.Because the measured flood process of Huayuankou section was not found, we calculated the flood process of each part of the flood evolving to Huayuankou section without the effect of the reservoir (as shown by the black line in Figure 2).

Answer

Hydrological processes depend on many parameters, mainly precipitation, evapotranspiration, vegetation, soil characteristics, land use, land cover, but also temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, solar radiation, etc.

For this reason, determining the actual flow in the river is very difficult.

How was the flow determined in the variant without controlling retention reservoirs? The best way to model flow in streams and rivers is hydrodynamic modeling.

In my opinion, the authors should highlight in the text the limitations they encountered during the preparation of the manuscript. In addition, I suggest explaining how these limitations could have influenced the obtained results. Is there a chance that the obtained results are close to real conditions?

Author Response

Dear Professor，

Thank you very much for your suggestions on the manuscript named "Application of HSMAAOA Algorithm in Flood Control Optimal Operation of Reservoir Groups"(ID:sustainability-2058762).These suggestions are very helpful to the revision and improvement of the paper. We have made the following corrections according to your comments, and the revised parts have been marked in red in the text.

The reply is as follows：

1.One of the difficulties in the study of this paper is: when calculating the river course evolution, due to the influence of topographic data, it is impossible to establish a hydrodynamic model, so the hydrologic method - Muskingum method is selected for calculation. The parameters involved in the Muskingum method are from the Yellow River Yearbook. Relevant contents have been modified in the text.

Thanks again for your advice.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 3 Report

Accept as is

Author Response

Dear Professor，

Thank you very much for your suggestions on the manuscript named "Application of HSMAAOA Algorithm in Flood Control Optimal Operation of Reservoir Groups"(ID:sustainability-2058762).These suggestions are very helpful to the revision and improvement of the paper.