Technology
How AI Can Predict Natural Disasters
and providing people with some time to prepare
When I was 8 years old, I remember my older sister has taught me that if at night the sky is clear and you can see stars, the next day will be sunny. I was following this simple weather forecasting technique since then. Sometimes successful, sometimes not. But yes, I’ve noticed the pattern.
This is one of the ways sailors used to predict the weather. This particular prediction works on observations and finding certain distinctive characteristics of the same event.
When it comes to professional meteorological research, the collected data is much wider than 1 variable (clear night sky). Experts analyse current weather state, observations, pressure, humidity levels and wind speed. And also, scientists need to observe about 139.7 million square miles of the World Ocean, 1500 potentially active volcanoes, 45 of which are continuously erupting and 3.5 million miles of rivers in the US alone.
When something is missed or not observed enough, even a slight disruption can lead to unforeseeable consequences.
While technology like satellites and sensors are great tools to collect data from different angles, AI is a perfect tool to analyse this massive volume of information…
