Earthly Machine Learning

GRAPHDOP — Towards Skillful Data-Driven Medium-Range Weather Forecasts


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🎧 Abstract:
In this episode, we dive into GraphDOP, a novel data-driven forecasting system developed by ECMWF. Unlike traditional models, GraphDOP learns directly from Earth System observations—without relying on physics-based reanalysis. By capturing relationships between satellite and conventional observations, it builds a latent representation of Earth’s dynamic systems and delivers accurate weather forecasts up to five days ahead.

📌 Bullet points summary:

  • GraphDOP is developed by ECMWF and operates purely on observational data, without physics-based (re)analysis or feedback.

  • Produces skillful forecasts for surface and upper-air parameters up to five days into the future.

  • Competes with ECMWF’s IFS for two-metre temperature (t2m), outperforming it in the Tropics at 5-day lead times.

  • Can generate forecasts at any time and location—even where observational data is sparse—without using gridded ERA5 fields for training.

  • Combines data from various instruments to create accurate joint forecasts of surface and tropospheric temperatures in the Tropics.

  • Learns observation relationships that generalize well to data-sparse regions, with upper-level wind forecasts aligning closely with ERA5 even in low-coverage areas.

đź’ˇ The Big Idea:
GraphDOP reimagines weather forecasting by proving that pure observational data—when paired with intelligent modeling—can rival and even surpass traditional, physics-based systems in both speed and accuracy.

📚 Citation:
Alexe, Mihai, et al. "GraphDOP: Towards skilful data-driven medium-range weather forecasts learnt and initialised directly from observations." arXiv preprint arXiv:2412.15687 (2024). https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2412.15687

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Earthly Machine LearningBy Amirpasha