NASA’s AI Breakthrough Predicts Solar Flares Like Never Before
AI model Surya revolutionizes solar eruption forecasting.
NASA has unveiled a groundbreaking artificial intelligence system, the Surya Heliophysics Foundational Model, designed to unravel the Sun’s complex behavior and enhance space weather predictions. Developed in collaboration with IBM and other partners, Surya leverages nine years of continuous, high-resolution data from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), which has been observing the Sun since 2010. This extensive dataset, covering an entire 11-year solar cycle, enables Surya to detect subtle patterns in solar activity, offering unprecedented insights into solar eruptions that can disrupt satellites, power grids, and communication systems on Earth.
Surya’s capabilities mark a significant leap in heliophysics, particularly in predicting solar flares. Early tests show the model can generate visual forecasts up to two hours in advance, surpassing existing methods by 16%. By processing vast streams of solar imagery and magnetic field data captured every 12 seconds across multiple wavelengths, Surya identifies precursors to solar events that shorter datasets might miss. This predictive power is critical for safeguarding technologies and infrastructure vulnerable to space weather, including GPS systems, astronaut safety, and power networks.
NASA is committed to open science, making Surya’s model available on HuggingFace and its code accessible on GitHub. This move invites global scientists, educators, and innovators to build on Surya’s foundation, fostering collaborative advancements in solar research. “We are advancing data-driven science by embedding NASA’s deep scientific expertise into cutting-edge AI models,” said Kevin Murphy, chief science data officer at NASA Headquarters. “This model empowers broader understanding of how solar activity impacts critical systems and technologies we rely on.”
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The development of Surya was bolstered by the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR) Pilot, supported by the National Science Foundation and industry partners like NVIDIA, which provided the computational power needed for such advanced AI training. Joseph Westlake, director of NASA’s Heliophysics Division, emphasized Surya’s role in space weather forecasting: “Just as meteorology predicts Earth’s weather, space weather forecasts protect our technologies from solar disruptions. Surya is a vital step in strengthening our defenses for astronauts, spacecraft, and global infrastructure.”
By combining NASA’s unparalleled solar data with state-of-the-art AI, Surya not only enhances our ability to predict space weather but also sets a new standard for data-driven discovery in heliophysics, promising a safer and more resilient technological future.
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