AI Revolutionizes Space Weather Forecasting: NASA and IBM Unveil "Surya"
In a groundbreaking development for space exploration and Earth-bound infrastructure, NASA and IBM have jointly introduced "Surya," the first AI foundation model dedicated to heliophysics. Launched on August 21, 2025, Surya marks a significant leap forward in our ability to predict solar flares and space weather, phenomena that pose considerable threats to satellites, power grids, and astronauts.
A New Era in Solar Prediction
Named after the Sanskrit word for Sun, Surya is an open-source AI model, hosted on Hugging Face, designed to bring unprecedented speed and precision to solar science. This innovative AI system has been rigorously trained on nine years of high-resolution solar data, enabling it to learn the complex dynamics of the Sun.
Key Breakthroughs of Surya:
- Enhanced Forecasting Accuracy: Surya can forecast solar flares up to two hours in advance, demonstrating an approximate 16% improvement in accuracy compared to previous methods.
- Protecting Critical Infrastructure: The ability to predict solar storms with greater lead time is crucial for safeguarding essential assets such as communication satellites, navigation systems, and terrestrial power grids, all of which are vulnerable to the electromagnetic disturbances caused by solar events.
- Astronaut Safety: For future space missions, especially those involving human deep-space travel, accurate space weather forecasts are paramount for ensuring the safety of astronauts.
Juan Bernabe-Moreno of IBM aptly described Surya as "a weather forecast for space," highlighting its role in providing vital advance warnings. NASA's science data chief lauded the integration of NASA's extensive expertise into this AI model, paving the way for a deeper and more rapid understanding of our star.
This collaboration between a leading space agency and a technology giant underscores the transformative potential of AI in scientific research, opening new frontiers in our quest to comprehend and mitigate the impacts of space weather.