India Ramps Up Precision in Weather Forecasts through AI

• India uses AI for precise weather forecasts amid climate challenges.
• IMD employs AI for alerts, expanding observatories for detailed village-level data.
• Government sets up center for cost-effective AI integration in weather models.

India is harnessing the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance its weather forecasting capabilities. The move comes as the country faces a surge in extreme weather events, including torrential rains, floods, and droughts, which have claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 people this year alone, according to estimates from the Centre for Science and Environment.

Global warming has intensified clashes between weather systems in India, prompting weather agencies worldwide to turn to AI for its potential to reduce costs and improve forecasting speed. The India Meteorological Department (IMD), responsible for providing crucial weather forecasts for the nation of 1.4 billion people, is leading the charge. The IMD currently relies on mathematical models run on supercomputers, but integrating AI into an expanded observation network could offer higher-quality forecast data at a lower cost.

K.S. Hosalikar, Head of Climate Research and Services at IMD, explained that the department has successfully employed AI to issue public alerts for heatwaves and diseases such as malaria. The next step involves increasing the number of weather observatories to provide data at the village level, potentially delivering higher-resolution information for more accurate forecasts.

The government announced its commitment to incorporating AI into traditional weather models, aiming to establish a center to explore and test the integration of AI through workshops and conferences. Saurabh Rathore, an assistant professor at the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi, emphasized the cost-effectiveness of AI models, noting that they can be run on standard desktop computers.

However, experts caution that the success of AI in weather forecasting relies heavily on the availability of high-resolution data. Parthasarathi Mukhopadhyay, a climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, highlighted the necessity of having detailed spatial and temporal data for AI models to provide location-specific enhancements to existing forecast models.

As India navigates the complexities of climate change, the adoption of AI in weather forecasting emerges as a crucial step toward improving precision, cost-effectiveness, and overall resilience in the face of increasingly unpredictable weather patterns.

Also Read

Samsung Galaxy A15 price in UAE & specifications

Samsung recently launched the new Galaxy A15 series, sparking rumors and leaks about...