In the face of increasingly erratic weather patterns and growing incidences of extreme weather, precise and timely forecasting can protect lives, property and infrastructure. While traditional forecasting methods continue to be used, scientists are exploring how artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) could improve their speed and accuracy.
Globally, there’s a great deal of financial excitement around these technologies, but India finds itself at a more nascent stage. In 2023, the country announced a new virtual centre to develop AI/ML techniques for weather predictions. But a massive challenge awaits: the lack of credible data.
Robust and voluminous data is at the core of AI/ML models. India lacks this, despite being no stranger to frequent weather-related disasters like heatwaves, floods and cyclones. Data paucity is even more critical for the Himalayan region, which is also particularly vulnerable to climate-related disasters.
Having worked with environmental data for more than 20 years – and knowing the challenges involved – journalist Nidhi Jamwal was keen to gain a deeper understanding of India’s AI weather forecasting journey. Writing for Dialogue Earth last year, she consulted various experts to explore the complexities of this topic and how the country’s data gap might be bridged.
In this second episode of The Third Pole Podcast, Jamwal reveals that a lack of data is not the only problem. The availability of existing data, which is often very hard to obtain from the various agencies that gather it, is also a central issue.
Joining Jamwal is Amitabha Bagchi. A professor of computer science at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Bagchi gets down to the nitty-gritty of how AI/ML models work. He also introduces the India Stack, which might offer an innovative solution to many of the country’s data woes.
If you don’t even know the volume of water that the lake has, how do you even tell at what velocity the water will flow and … what damages it will cause?Nidhi Jamwal, independent journalist
Guests
Nidhi Jamwal, independent journalist
Amitabha Bagchi, professor, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
Credits
Hosts: Shalinee Kumari, Omair Ahmad
Producer: Shalinee Kumari
Audio edit and sound design: Gaurav Krishna / Dead End Right Studios
Recording studio: Pindrop Media
Artwork: Sana Nasir
Thanks to: Lizi Hesling, Nanaui Amoros Silva, Chaia Dechen, Georgie Campbell
Music credits
“Alarm Cycle” by Blue Dot Sessions
Source: https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/5ec5748d-a71a-4a02-adf3-36a374c5b846
Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
“Borough” by Blue Dot Sessions
Source: https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/05ee6012-dfd2-499d-bc8e-b8ab6d895af6
Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
About the series
The Third Pole Podcast is a new Dialogue Earth series focusing on climate change and the environment in the Himalayan watershed. It aims to create a space for beyond-the-article conversations with our journalists and field experts. At the same time, we also ask questions about the state of environmental journalism in South Asia: why it is needed, what issues it should be looking at and what challenges it faces.
