AI2ES: Alpha-Institute—Artificial Intelligence for Environmental Sciences

We propose a new cooperative partnership in the style of an “alpha institute” that will address the societal needs for better environmental information and forecasting through the application of cutting-edge AI methods for environmental sciences. The idea of an alpha-institute was outlined by Dr. Kelvin Droegemeier, Director of the US Office of Science and Technology Policy, in early 2019, “to “pursue absolutely transformational ideas on some of the biggest challenges that face humanity today”. AI2ES will include the government, private sector, academia and NGOs as essential partners to address a critical national priority: saving lives, protecting property, and advancing the economy by improving short and long term weather and ocean forecasting, environmental sensing and monitoring, improved understanding of environmental dynamics,faster physically-constrained simulations, and more. The alpha-institute partnership is unique in its synergistic engagement of researchers from academia, government and the private sector. Also, it benefits society by accelerating technology transfer through private sector partnerships. AI2ES will be led by several premier institutions in critical areas, with expertise in artificial intelligence, decision science, and environmental science, including atmospheric and aquatic science. All of the institutions will work closely with federal agencies like NOAA and the private sector to create a world-renowned hub that develops artificial intelligence techniques to improve skill and computational efficiency of environmental observation, modeling, and predictions.