CALIFORNIA: To provide faster, more detailed and accurate weather forecasts around the world, Google has introduced a new artificial intelligence-powered weather forecasting system.
Developed by Google DeepMind and Google Research Weather NeXT 3 is described as a next-generation global weather forecasting model that uses artificial intelligence to improve the speed and quality of weather predictions.
Weather NeXT 3 uses live imagery from geostationary satellites along with data collected from weather stations on the ground. The system reduces reliance on traditional numerical forecasting methods, which can be slower and require significant computing resources.
The new model is capable of producing updated weather forecasts every hour. It offers a spatial resolution of up to 5 kilometres, providing considerably more detailed information than its predecessor. More frequent updates could help users and authorities better monitor rapidly changing weather conditions including storms weather fronts and other severe events.
Weather NeXT 3 also provides high-resolution information about temperature and humidity near the Earth’s surface at a resolution of up to 5 kilometres while wind measurements are available at a resolution of up to 10 kilometres. One of the key improvements is rainfall forecasting. According to Google, the system can reduce error metrics for important rainfall prediction measures by up to 50% compared with traditional numerical weather models.
Google says the system is already being integrated into Google Search, Gemini, Google Maps, the Google Maps Platform Weather API and Google Earth Engine. WeatherNext 3 could also benefit the clean-energy sector by providing data on wind speeds at turbine height, cloud conditions and solar radiation for grid operators and renewable-energy companies.
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