Improving Mechanistic Model Accuracy with Machine Learning Informed Physics

Machine learning presents opportunities to improve the scale-specific accuracy of mechanistic models in a data-driven manner. Here we demonstrate the use of a machine learning technique called Sparse Identification of Nonlinear Dynamics (SINDy) to improve a simple mechanistic model of algal growth. Time-series measurements of the microalga Chlorella Vulgaris were generated under controlled photobioreactor conditions at the University of Technology Sydney. A simple mechanistic growth model based on intensity of light and temperature was integrated over time and compared to the time-series data. While the mechanistic model broadly captured the overall growth trend, discrepancies remained between the model and data due to the model's simplicity and non-ideal behavior of real-world measurement. SINDy was applied to model the residual error by identifying an error derivative correction term. Addition of this SINDy-informed error dynamics term shows improvement to model accuracy while maintaining interpretability of the underlying mechanistic framework. This work demonstrates the potential for machine learning techniques like SINDy to aid simple mechanistic models in scale-specific predictive accuracy.