{
  "id": 18218052,
  "title": "Earth atmosphere emulators could enable faster and more accurate weather predictions",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/05/earth-atmosphere-emulators-could-enable-faster-and-more-accurate",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-11-05T01:00:01.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Phys.org",
    "slug": "phys-org",
    "url": "https://phys.org/news/2026-11-earth-atmosphere-emulators-enable-faster.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Earth's atmosphere is a complex system that can be modeled using billions of 1-kilometer-square chunks, but simulating a decade into the future takes months on supercomputers. Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) are developing emulators to speed up weather predictions and provide more accurate forecasts months to years in advance. These emulators use machine learning, like deep neural networks, to mimic the physics of the atmosphere based on data from observations or high-fidelity models. By training emulators like STRATA on the outputs of a model like E3SM, scientists can predict atmospheric conditions without solving the physics equations. This speed is essential for capturing the chaotic nature of weather, which requires many simulations to build trust in the predictive system. Emulators also offer the ability to test the impact of initial conditions, as even small changes in starting points can lead to vastly different predictions. However, obtaining accurate initial conditions is challenging, especially for deep ocean temperatures and hard-to-reach areas. The Genesis Mission aims to address this issue by using generative models, like MAGGIE, to create consistent and accurate initial conditions for predictive simulations. Additionally, LLNL is developing a small-scale emulator called STITCH to improve the representation of cloud microphysics and small-scale turbulence, which currently generate significant uncertainty in simulations.",
  "summary": "If you partitioned the entire Earth, from just below the surface to the top of the atmosphere, into 1-kilometer-square chunks, there would be billions of them. Now run each of those cells through a series of complex physics equations, and you can see how the entire Earth system interacts and evolves in detail, one step at a time.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Space.com",
        "title": "NASA's Artemis II moon launch tore a hole in Earth's upper atmosphere so huge it disrupted GPS signals",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/04/nasas-artemis-ii-moon-launch-tore-a-hole-in-earths-upper-atmosphere",
        "published": "2026-11-04T17:00:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "ABC News AU",
        "title": "NASA Swift telescope plummets to Earth near Indonesia",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/04/nasa-swift-telescope-plummets-to-earth-near-indonesia",
        "published": "2026-11-04T23:34:09.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}