Session

DescriptionIn this minisymposium, we will survey the state-of-the-art of foundation models for weather and climate. These promise a second revolution for Earth system modeling, after the emergence of highly skilful machine learning-based weather forecasting models in the last two years. Foundation models aim to provide a machine learning-based, rich representation of the Earth system at many scales in space and time through training on many different datasets. With this, they can be used for a wide range of task, not unlike conventional, equation-based Earth system models. The first large foundation models are becoming available now and their applicability to a range of tasks is explored. The three talks in the minisymposium cover both model development as well as the application and the physicality of the output and will provide a comprehensive overview of the state of the field. In the panel discussion at the end of the minisymposium, the panelists will share their insights about the state of the field and where it will be developing to in the future. The panel also provides the audience with the opportunity to engage with the panelists and to share their experiences and opinions.