Google’s philanthropic arm will spend up $5 million (€4.46 million) on high-tech weather forecasting and climate research in Ireland, aiming to improve local forecasting of severe storms, flash flooding and other weather events.
The commitment from Google.org includes €2.5 million in funding for the Aimsir Centre and the Climate + Co-Centre – the organisation’s largest funded initiative in Ireland – and will also see the creation of a new schools-based network of weather stations.
The investment will fund a four-year research initiative that combines Google Earth AI, satellite imagery and real-time weather observations from 560 solar-powered weather stations deployed at schools across the State, known as the Climate+ School Weather AI Network (Swan).
Overseen by UCD’s Aimsir Centre in partnership with Met Éireann and the Climate+ Co-Centre, the stations will measure temperature, atmospheric pressure, rainfall, humidity, wind speed and wind direction at one-minute intervals.
The project will combine that data with historical weather patterns to build “nowcasting” models that can detect severe weather events earlier.
“This combination of central research and the distributed gathering of information, working with the network of 560 schools, is not something we’ve done anywhere else in the world,” said Kent Walker, president of global affairs at Google and Alphabet.
“It is a shift in the way the Irish weather forecasting services are doing it. They are used to having a small number of very high end data points. This is a distributed model we have, and lots of very localised data points. In the aggregate, it may lead to better forecasting for the whole country.”
The data will also be freely available online. Teachers will be provided with training and lesson plans to help students get the most out of the data. The initiative is also being supported by the Irish Schools Sustainability Network, the Irish Science Teachers’ Association, and education portal Scoilnet.
The project will roll out a pilot phase to 20 schools initially, to test the equipment’s function and longevity over the winter months. It then plans to install around 200 weather stations a year in secondary schools around the State.
The stations will connect via wifi, meaning they need to be close enough to a building to pick up the connection, but far enough away that they pick up good wind and rain data.
Aimsir’s Prof Andrew Parnell said the programme was prioritising Deis schools. The stations can also be adapted for different school needs, such as adding air quality sensors for schools in urban areas.
Head of Google Ireland, Vanessa Hartley said the initiative showed how AI could be used to address a real-world challenge.
“What makes this initiative particularly impactful is that communities across the country will play an integral role,” she said. “With weather stations located in schools across Ireland, students and teachers will have the opportunity not just to learn about weather and AI, but to contribute directly to a nationwide – and potentially global – scientific initiative.”
The project was welcomed by Taoiseach Micheál Martin.
“Ireland has built a strong international reputation for innovation, research and technology and initiatives such as this demonstrate how those strengths can be applied to challenges facing communities across the country,” he said.