IBM and Nasa partner to predict solar activity impact on critical technology

IBM (IBM) and NASA unveiled the most advanced open-source foundation model designed to understand high resolution solar observation data and predict how solar activity affects Earth and space-based technology. Surya, named for the Sanskrit word for the Sun, represents a significant advancement in applying AI to solar image interpretation and space weather forecasting research, providing a novel tool to help protect everything from GPS navigation to power grids to telecommunications from the Sun’s ever-changing nature. The Sun may be 93M miles away, but its impact on modern life is immediate and growing. Solar flares and coronal mass ejections can knock out satellites, disrupt airline navigation, trigger power blackouts, and pose serious radiation risks to astronauts. With humanity’s increasing dependence on space-based technology and plans for deeper space exploration, accurate solar weather prediction has become critical. In early testing, researchers report achieving a 16% improvement in solar flare classification accuracy, which researchers report as a very substantial improvement compared to previous methods. In addition to the binary solar flare classification task, Surya is built to visually predict solar flares for the first time, providing a high resolution image of where the flare is predicted to occur up to two hours out. This model is part of a larger collaboration between IBM and NASA to use AI technology to explore our planet and solar system.