Cuba will use artificial intelligence to forecast droughts

The Center for Physics of the Atmosphere, belonging to the Institute of Meteorology of Cuba, is advancing a project with artificial intelligence to forecast periods of droughts.

By this means it is possible to estimate the behavior of rainfall and drought events, in time ranges of 15 days, a month, three, six and even up to a year.

The group of researchers is developing neural network models that will be inserted in international environments for the evaluation of forecasts, such as the one offered by the European Center for Medium-Term Weather Forecasting.

It is expected that artificial intelligence will make it possible to improve the forecasts obtained with global models and to establish an operational scheme for precipitation and drought forecasting.

According to Granma newspaper, it will be accessible to all sectors and users who demand it in the country, with the possibility of extending the results to the Caribbean region.

Experts consider that calculating the course of rainfall and drought in the aforementioned terms is a challenge for the scientific community, taking into account the unstable behavior of the atmosphere, the uncertainty associated with this condition and the characteristics of rainfall.

The project will also allow more efficient water management, agricultural planning, decision makings, efficient use of water resources and in other areas.