As droughts, floods and torrential rains continue to proliferate in India, the country is testing the latest tech to build climate models. This new technology is Artificial Intelligence (AI) for improved weather forecasting.
India, home to 1.4 billion people, is the second largest producer of water intensive crops like rice, wheat and sugar in the world. Thus accurate weather forecasting plays a crucial role. K.S. Hosalikar, head of climate research and services at IMD, told Reuters that ‘the IMD (India Meteorological Department) expects the AI-based climate models and advisories to help improve forecasts.’
IMD will provide the forecasts based on mathematical models using supercomputers.
The government said that Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) techniques are being used to improve the prediction skill of weather, climate, and ocean forecasts at various institutes under the ministry. Weather agencies around the world are focussing on AI, which can help in cutting down costs and improving speed.
The ability to predict weather patterns helps in understanding and combating climate change. Extreme weather events, caused by global warming, have caused more than 3000 deaths this year, according to CSE.
Experts say that better data is needed to make the most out of artificial intelligence for weather forecasting. "Without having high-resolution data in space and time, no AI model for location-specific magnification of existing model forecasts is feasible," said Parthasarathi Mukhopadhyay, a climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology.
There are other AI tools like watsonx.ai, which are being jointly built by NASA and IBM to measure environmental changes that have already happened while also making predictions about the future.


Down to Earth is Science and Environment fortnightly published by the Society for Environmental Communication, New Delhi. We publish news and analysis on issues that deal with sustainable development, which we scan through the eyes of science and environment.

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