Google researchers can now use AI to forecast floods

An AI model now operational in 80 countries, provides accurate predictions of river flooding than the previous dominant system. The model was developed by researchers at Google, who said in their paper that they have successfully been able to “improve the skill of forecasts in Africa to be similar to what is currently available in Europe.” In addition, the real-time forecasts are free and publicly available.

According to a research done, floods are the most common and most widely destructive natural catastrophes, causing an average of $50 billion in global economic damages annually. They are also difficult to predict, particularly in places with sparse or no data.

Almost 90% of the 1.8 billion people very susceptible to floods live in low- and middle-income countries, where there are fewer flood gauges than in rich countries — and sometimes none at all.

Google AI modelers tried to predict floods — including especially destructive events — in a river’s watershed without any gauges. The scientists built a predictive AI model through a large, collaborative effort involving many academics and experts at the EU’s global flood forecasting system, known as GloFAS.

GloFAS is the current gold standard.

The Google model uses diverse, publicly available data sources, such as weather forecasts, satellite imagery, topography and soil type. It then uses AI to predict what areas will be affected by a flood and how deep the water will be.

The model was tested and then improved based on feedback from 5,680 watersheds.

Researchers found that with AI, they could predict floods five days in advance in river basins without gauges with the same accuracy GloFAS could only do on the day of.