The developers of China's Pangu-Weather prediction model have built an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered weather forecaster with unparalleled precision.
Zhiji, the newest AI model, forecasts five-day regional weather with exceptional precision from 25km (15.5 miles) to 3km. The debut of Zhiji follows Huawei Technologies' Pangu-Weather, China's top scientific invention of 2023. Pangu-Weather, launched in July 2023 with a Nature publication, has revolutionized weather forecasting with speedy and precise forecasts.
Pangu-Weather created a seven-day weather prediction in 10 seconds, a huge improvement over existing approaches, according to SCMP.
More Accurate Weather Forecasting Means Better Disaster Preparedness
On February 29, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) named Pangu-Weather one of China's top 10 scientific accomplishments in 2023. Pangu has outperformed numerical simulations in forecasting temperature, pressure, humidity, and wind speed after exponentially improving the ECMWF weather forecasting system and accelerating weather predictions.
Researchers built Zhiji, a regional model with the Shenzhen Meteorological Bureau, after Pangu's success. Zhiji's five-day prediction for Shenzhen and its surroundings is 3km precise, using high-resolution data from southern China.
Since its trial operation began in February, Zhiji has projected wind speed, temperature, humidity, and precipitation for the Shenzhen Meteorological Bureau several times. Researchers point out that AI forecasts are better at predicting typhoon courses, but numerical models are better at predicting wind strength. By integrating their capabilities, scientists may also use numerical simulations and Zhiji predictions to make better decisions and shape weather forecasting.
(Photo : AU BARRENA/AFP via Getty Images) Huawei's President of Information and Communications Technology sales and service Peng Li gives a conference at the Mobile World Congress (MWC), the telecom industry's biggest annual gathering, in Barcelona on February 27, 2024.
The World Meteorological Organization noted that weather, climate, and water-related risks caused about 12,000 disasters between 1970 and 2021, killing over two million people and costing $US 4.3 trillion. Early warnings reduce deaths and economic losses, per Huawei's media release. Early alerts work better when meteorologists more accurately predict them.
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The capacity of artificial intelligence to handle massive amounts of data and find patterns can improve weather forecasting and speed up prediction. Meteorological agencies worldwide use technology company AI algorithms for forecasting.
"Extreme weather is on the rise globally, and AI weather forecasting systems have already shown unique strengths in predicting all kinds of weather conditions," William Dong, President of Huawei Cloud Marketing Department, noted. "In the future, Huawei Cloud will continue to innovative in AI weather forecasting methods and extend them to benefit more sectors, provide more refined weather services and enhance disaster preparedness."
Huawei Showcasing Robust Sales
This development follows Huawei Technologies' report of a strong sales performance last year despite US sanctions.
In its latest Shenzhen financial report, Techtimes reported that Huawei's net profit rose to 87 billion yuan ($12 billion). Strong sales and product improvements drove this rise. According to AP News, sales rose nearly 10% to 704.2 billion yuan ($97.4 billion).
Huawei's rotating chairman, Ken Hu, said the company's financial performance exceeded expectations despite several hurdles. In addition to its core activities, Huawei gained by divesting other companies.
Huawei's earnings growth coincides with rising technical and security concerns between the US and China. Because of tight federal penalties, US corporations are hindered from doing business with Huawei. Huawei has also had trouble getting semiconductors, software, and Google services for its smartphones.
To adapt to the changing scenario, Huawei has shifted its business strategy to focus on cloud computing and digital transformation across industries. Its cloud computing segment earned 55.3 billion yuan ($7.7 billion) in 2023, up 22%. Automotive service revenues doubled, and digital power sales grew by 3.5%.
Despite US restrictions, Huawei's consumer segment had 17.3% smartphone sales growth in 2023. In Huawei's high-end Mate 60 smartphone series, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation's revolutionary CPUs aided this expansion.
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