Boise State joins DOE AI project for precipitation forecasting

Boise State University has joined a Department of Energy-backed project that will use artificial intelligence to improve precipitation forecasting and support hydropower generation and power-grid reliability. The university is a partner in ASPIRE, the ARM-Driven Simulation for Physical Insight Research Engine, a project funded through the Department of Energy’s Genesis Mission and led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Boise State Professor of Geosciences Lejo Flores serves as the university’s lead investigator, while Berkeley Lab Principal Investigator Ann Almgren leads the project.

ASPIRE is a planned research project rather than a completed forecast study, and the announcement does not report numerical forecast improvements or operational results. Its stated aim is to shorten the path from raw atmospheric data to physical insight. The project will build a coordinated AI system that combines curated data, findings from existing scientific literature and regional atmospheric simulations. Researchers intend to use that system to study relationships between small-scale physical processes and the large-scale weather patterns associated with severe storms, snow droughts and other extreme precipitation events.

A central element of the planned system is agentic AI, which the announcement describes as autonomous systems capable of carrying out complex, multistep tasks from high-level instructions. In a possible research workflow, a scientist could ask an AI agent to investigate the conditions behind an extreme snowfall event such as the December 2021 Colorado “Santa Slammer.” The agent could synthesize relevant literature, assemble datasets, design and run numerical experiments with advanced weather models, and interpret the results alongside previous research. ASPIRE’s team envisions these tools evolving from assistants for time-consuming tasks into systems that help scientists analyze data, design experiments and test hypotheses, while working alongside researchers as a graduate student would with an advisor.

The project’s energy focus is precipitation. According to the announcement, snowpack and rainfall patterns drive hydropower generation, while severe weather creates risks for grid infrastructure. By advancing precipitation prediction more quickly, ASPIRE is intended to provide scientific information relevant to utilities and communities nationwide. Almgren said the collaboration brings AI experts and atmospheric scientists together to translate collected atmospheric data into physical insight, describing the project as “team science” that examines large-scale patterns and fine-scale details. Flores said faculty and students working on ASPIRE would receive hands-on experience with research intended to have an impact across the country.

Boise State Vice President for Research and Economic Development Nancy Glenn said the partnership reflects the university’s commitment to research addressing challenges faced by utilities and critical infrastructure. She said better anticipation of extreme weather could strengthen grid reliability and give communities more time to prepare. The announcement presents ASPIRE as one of a select group of projects supported through the Genesis Mission, one of the Department of Energy’s most prominent AI research initiatives. Additional details about ASPIRE’s full scope and timeline are to be released with Berkeley Lab and the Department of Energy as part of the broader Genesis Mission rollout. The work is supported by the Department of Energy under Award #DE-AC02-05CH11231.

Subject of Research: Agentic AI for precipitation forecasting, hydropower generation and power-grid reliability

Article Title: Boise State joins project funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Genesis Mission and led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab)

Article References: Boise State joins project funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Genesis Mission and led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). Original publication (Bibliographic details unavailable.)

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: Not provided

Keywords: artificial intelligence, agentic AI, precipitation forecasting, atmospheric science, extreme precipitation, hydropower, power-grid reliability, Department of Energy, Genesis Mission, Berkeley Lab, Boise State University, Boise