NOAA Partners with Google to Boost Weather Forecasts with AI – Nextgov

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Google linked up to cooperatively steer artificial intelligence and machine learning-driven pilot projects that could advance the agencys environmental monitoring, weather predicting, and climate research capabilities.

Through a three-year deal unveiled Tuesday, the two will collectively study and develop small-scale AI systemsand eventually wider-ranging prototypesthat might be infused across NOAAs broader enterprise. Such resources would be of good use to the water and climate-focused agency, which is responsible for providing raw data for weather forecasts nationwide, including those used to predict hurricanes and other natural disasters.

And as the research and technology deployments unfold, both entities aim to simultaneously offer their personnel unique, novel hands-on experience and training opportunities, coupling the agencys leading environmental science expertise with the companys command of AI.

In joining forces, each expects to make significant progress, more efficiently, and instill new expertise in the partners' workforces, Sid Boukabara, principal scientist in NOAA's Center for Satellite Applications and Research told Nextgov Tuesday.

Google spokesperson Jane Khodos on Tuesday also noted to Nextgov that if the effort is successful, this has the potential to be a significant leap in NOAAs ability to leverage the enormous volume and diversity of environmental data in order to enhance prediction, including for extreme weather events such as hurricanes and tornadoes.

An other transaction authority agreement signed between the tech giant and NOAAs Satellite and Information Service underpins the work. Born jointly by Google and NOAA, the total cost of that OTA is around $10 million, Boukabara confirmed.

This includes leveraging researchers and existing projects aligned with the objectives of the OTA agreement, he said.

Initial work will hone in on creating the smaller scale AI and ML systemsthen, NOAA and Google Cloud insiders will hone in on executing full-scale prototypes that the agency can ultimately operationalize across its organization, according to the release detailing the effort. The hope is that they can tap the tech solutions to drive forward NOAAs use of satellite and environmental data.

Previously, Google AI teamed up with NOAAs Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center to train an AI model using their massive collection of underwater recordings and harness new insights about whales behavioral and migratory patterns. And through this latest effort, the company is especially interested in platforms that use AI to increase the utilization of weather satellite observations, Khodos said.

The work will also build on priorities laid out in NOAAs new AI strategy, released earlier this year.

Boukabara, who also serves as the agencys project manager of the agreement, said both Google and NOAA have kickstarted the planning phase of their partnership, and as a result of it in about a month down the line, theyll have a firmer idea of specific joint AI and ML-centered projects theyll collaborate on.

But overall, I can say that these AI-based systems will aim at assimilating a higher rate of environmental data from a diverse set of sources, he explained.

Among others, those sources could include satellites, crowd-sourced data, and balloons. The ultimate intent, Boukabara said, is to generatewith a much faster speed of executiona richer environmental analysis at higher spatial, vertical and temporal resolutions. And if it works out, this will have the potential to significantly improve the experience of citizens, forecasters, governments and other users of environmental data, he noted.

One of NOAAs primary missions is to save lives and property by providing accurate warnings, forecasts, and other environmental monitoring information, Boukabara further explained, adding that officials do so by taking advantage of the observations made by sensors on satellites, balloons, ground platforms and elsewhere. Employing an AI-based approach can boost the rate and types of data that can be used, and a number of projects have already demonstrated AIs promise to make a leap in our ability to use environmental data for weather prediction and do the same thing [they] do now but better and significantly faster, he said.

Its better because researchers can actually exploit information in the data captured that is usually difficult to put to use with regular techniques. This includes the step called 'data assimilation,' which Boukabara noted is key in producing an accurate numerical weather prediction, or NWP.

We have a number of things to develop, tailor and to test, such as ensuring the analysis we obtain with AI is scientifically consistent with the physics of the forecast model used for NWP, he said. Recent and new developments in the AI and machine learning field such as explainable AI [and] trustworthy AI, should help us in this endeavorand we plan to fully take advantage of them.

Down the line, the work could also help the federal agency increase its medium-range weather forecast skills and reclaim global leadership, he added.

Link:

NOAA Partners with Google to Boost Weather Forecasts with AI - Nextgov