The Taoiseach, Micheál Martin TD, today joined Kent Walker, President of Global Affairs, Google and Alphabet, and Vanessa Hartley, Head of Google Ireland to announce a $5 million commitment from Google’s philanthropic arm, Google.org, to advance AI-powered weather forecasting and climate research in Ireland.
At the centre of the commitment is a new four-year scientific research initiative that will bring together technologies including Google Earth AI, satellite imagery and real-time local observations from a new school-based network of weather stations to be deployed across Ireland.
As part of the commitment, the AIMSIR Centre via UCD Foundation, Ireland’s first dedicated AI weather research centre, will receive €2.25 million ($2.5 million) in funding, representing Google.org’s largest-ever funded initiative in Ireland.
The funding will create the Climate+ School Weather AI Network (SWAN), delivered by the AIMSIR Centre in partnership with Met Éireann and the Climate+ Co-Centre. The project will receive further support from the Irish Schools Sustainability Network, the Irish Science Teachers’ Association, and Scoilnet, the official education portal of the Department of Education and Skills.
The initiative will deploy 560 solar-powered weather stations in schools across all 26 counties, creating a high-density network of real-time, ground-level weather observations. All the data will be freely available on the internet reporting every 1 minute, with teachers provided with training and lesson plans to ensure that students use the data to maximum effect.
An Taoiseach Micheál Martin T.D.:
“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. By bringing together our schools, researchers, Met Éireann and the incredible technology expertise we have in Ireland, we have the potential to improve our understanding of our weather while giving young people an opportunity to participate directly in science and innovation. As Ireland holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, this initiative is also a timely example of how we can harness AI responsibly to deliver tangible benefits to our society.”
Kent Walker, President of Global Affairs at Google and Alphabet:
“Combining the expertise of Ireland’s research community, new tools, and real-time weather observations from schools across the country will improve local forecasting for the kinds of severe storms and flash floods we saw last year. Making long-term forecasts more accurate will help people be prepared for whatever the weather throws at them.”
Vanessa Hartley, VP and Head of Google Ireland:
“This initiative is an example of how AI can be applied to addressing a real world challenge. By bringing together Google’s technology, Ireland’s world-class research expertise and real-time observations we can explore how AI can help us better understand Ireland’s weather and better prepare for severe weather events. What makes this initiative particularly impactful is that communities across the country will play an integral role. 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.”
Professor Andrew Parnell, Director of the AIMSIR Centre and Met Éireann Professor of Data Science for Climate and Weather at UCD said:
“What’s important about this project is that none of the data will be locked away. Every reading from every school, the designs for the stations themselves and the code we write to make sense of it all will be published openly and free to use. A student in Donegal will be able to see the rain falling on their own school a minute after it lands, and a student anywhere in Ireland will be able to use that same data for their own projects too.”
Eoin Moran, Director of Met Éireann said:
“Weather and climate affect every community in Ireland. As Ireland’s National Meteorological Service, Met Éireann welcomes initiatives that strengthen our collective capacity to observe, understand and prepare for these challenges.
This initiative combines advances in AI with real-time weather observations and citizen science to create new opportunities for research and innovation. It will also enable thousands of students to engage directly with weather and climate science, helping to build awareness, skills and resilience in communities across the country. We are proud to support an initiative that aligns closely with Met Éireann’s vision of being ready for change and helping Ireland prepare for changing weather and climate.”
UCD President Professor Orla Feely said:
“At University College Dublin, we believe that empowering the next generation of innovators begins in the classroom. This initiative brings cutting-edge artificial intelligence and atmospheric science directly into the hands of students across Ireland. By placing these advanced devices in schools, we are not only inspiring young minds to explore STEM fields and understand the complexities of our changing climate, but we are also creating a nation-wide citizen science network. The localised, real-time data collected by these students will directly feed into UCD’s research, enhancing our national forecasting capabilities and driving innovation in weather prediction for the benefit of those in Ireland and beyond.”
Background
Each station will measure temperature, atmospheric pressure, rainfall, humidity, wind speed and wind direction at one-minute intervals. Researchers will combine these observations with more than 70 years of historical Irish weather data and Google’s AI technologies.
The project aims to improve weather forecasting by building nowcasting models which have the capability of detecting severe weather events earlier and thus enabling more accurate local weather warnings. It will create an open-source blueprint that other countries can replicate to improve forecasting capabilities while misgiving the cost of traditional meteorological infrastructure.
Participating schools will contribute real-world weather observations to a national citizen-science network while more than 560 educators will be offered training and access to a dedicated STEM curriculum aligned with the Junior and Leaving Certificate.
Schools wishing to register their interest in the programme can visit www.ucd.ie/aimsir.
