As weather conditions become increasingly more severe across the globe, it’s crucial that businesses (including agriculturalists) across India have access to timely and accurate weather data to help stay prepared, said Cameron Clayton, general manager, IBM Watson Media and Weather. Recently, IBM and its subsidiary, The Weather Company, introduced a new weather model, called GRAF; this supercomputer-powered system provides fresher, higher quality forecasts for countries such as India that have never before had access to state-of-the-art weather data. The global roll out of IBM GRAF helps the region prepare for and respond to climate change.
“The launch of IBM GRAF is an inflection point in forecasting science, where technology democratises weather data for the good of society,” said Clayton. “Enhanced global forecasts are revolutionary in areas of the world like India, where we are committed to delivering improved weather insights to businesses and consumers to help save time, money and lives.” IBM GRAF runs on an IBM Power Systems supercomputer and can predict conditions upto 12 hours in advanced with detail and frequency previously unavailable. It will provide finer-grained predictions of the atmosphere and update its forecasts six to 12 times more frequently than that generated by conventional global modeling systems.
In India, current global weather models cover 9-13 km and are updated every six hours. By contrast, IBM GRAF forecasts down to 3 km and is updated hourly. With 12 trillion pieces of forecast information issued per day by IBM GRAF, IBM aims to improve forecast quality in India.
A recent study by IBM in partnership with Morning Consult, found that 72% Indians believe that the local economy has been disrupted by a severe weather event in the past year. Additionally, 89% of Indians expressed concern that climate change could have a negative impact on the economy. Further emphasising climate change apprehension, seven in 10 Indians (66%) believe that severe weather events are much more common now than they used to be.
