Since the dawn of mankind, humans have always cast their eyes above to check out what’s in store from the sky. Weather forecasting is very essential as knowing a day’s weather helps us plan our work, in general. Technology has advanced and so has the method of weather forecasting. Scientists have started using artificial intelligence (AI) to predict weather and its uses have shown promising results.
How accurate is weather forecasting?
The process of predicting weather patterns is a very complicated science. Every day, we need to analyse and decode massive data gathered from thousands of sensors and weather satellites. And to identify patterns in collected data to predict the future is a very strenuous task. As we can’t control weather, meteorologists can use past and present data to predict the future. Weather prediction accuracy has increased but it isn’t 100 per cent accurate.
Tools used
Meteorologists use a variety of sensors, satellites and computer models to predict future weather patterns. Most people are familiar with instruments like thermometers, barometers and anemometers for recording temperature, air pressure, and wind speed. But they also employ sophisticated equipment like weather balloons. Likewise, radar systems are used to measure precipitation around the world. Some other powerful tools are environmental satellites that monitor Earth’s weather.
AI, the new lens for the skies
The enormous data sets required and the unpredictability of Earth’s atmosphere make predicting weather very tricky. Current computer models are required to make judgments of several large-scale phenomena, like for example, how the sun heats the Earth’s atmosphere, how pressure differences affect wind patterns and many others. According to MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) meteorologist Edward Lorenz, the maximum limit to accurate weather prediction is somewhere in the order of two weeks.
Enter AI
They can be employed to improve accuracy and reliability of weather forecasting. They can be used to use computer-generated mathematical programs and computational problem-solving methods on vast data sets to identify patterns and make a relevant hypothesis, generalising the data. Scientists are now using AI for weather forecasting to obtain refined and accurate results. By using deep learning mathematical models, AI could learn from past weather records to predict the future.
Recent success
The Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) model studies and analyses vast data sets from satellites and other sensors to provide short-term weather forecasts and long-term climate predictions. Other companies are currently investing heavily on AI weather prediction. Recently, tech-giant IBM purchased The Weather Company and combined its data with their in-house AI development Watson. This led to the development of IBM’s Deep Thunder which provides customers with hyper-local weather forecasts.