arXiv AI

Beyond MSE: Improving Precipitation Nowcasting with Multi-Quantile Regression

arXiv:2605. 30122v2 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: Deep-learning precipitation nowcasting models are often optimized using pointwise losses such as mean squared error or mean absolute error, which can lead to overly smooth forecasts and poor representation of heavy rainfall.

arXiv Machine Learning
Aug 18

Convolution Smoothed Quantile Regression for XGBoost

arXiv:2608. 15290v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: The increasing availability of large and complex datasets across many scientific disciplines has led to widespread adoption of machine learning (ML) for prediction.

By Mandy Yao (University of Toronto), Meredith Franklin (University of Toronto)
arXiv Machine Learning
Sep 16

IRENE: A Convolutional GRU Ensemble Model for Radar Precipitation Nowcasting over Italy

IRENE is a deep learning model that provides probabilistic short‑range precipitation nowcasts over Italy at 1 km spatial and 5‑minute temporal resolution. It uses an encoder–forecaster architecture built on multi‑scale Convolutional Gated Recurrent Units (ConvGRUs) and is trained on national radar composites, with an importance‑sampling scheme and the almost‑fair Continuous Ranked Probability Score as its primary loss. Three training variants—standard, adversarial (IRENE‑GAN), and spectrally constrained (IRENE‑GAN‑RAPSD)—outperform benchmark methods STEPS and DGMR in probabilistic skill, though the advantage in mean absolute error is limited to the first 90 minutes.

By Alessandro Camilletti, Gabriele Franch, Elena Tomasi, Marco Cristoforetti
arXiv Machine Learning
Sep 25

Improving global precipitation forecasts with an AI weather model trained on satellite observations

The paper presents Laxmi, a retrained version of the AIFS weather model that uses satellite-based precipitation observations instead of ERA5 reanalysis data. Laxmi achieves a 19% improvement in global probabilistic accuracy, reduces drizzle overprediction by 33%, and boosts the 95th percentile Brier skill score by 57%. In a case study of 10 Indian tropical storms, Laxmi accurately forecasted 150 mm event-total precipitation in 7 events, outperforming both the original AIFS and the leading physical model IFS.

By Julian F. Schmitt, Bertrand Delorme, Robert C. King, Yashica Patodia, Tapio Schneider, Aditi Sheshadri, Ravi Jain
arXiv Machine Learning
Aug 28

Bridging short- and medium-range weather forecasting with machine learning

The paper introduces Nested‑EAGLE, a 0.25° global weather model with a 6 km refinement over the contiguous United States, designed to merge short‑ and medium‑range forecasts into a single system. It shows lower mean‑squared error for near‑surface and low‑level variables over the U.S. compared to NOAA’s GFS and HRRR, while remaining competitive globally. Although precipitation forecasts are less skillful than HRRR’s deterministic training, Nested‑EAGLE delivers the most accurate storm‑location predictions at longer lead times, with blurred extrema.

By Timothy A. Smith, Mariah Pope, Sergey Frolov, Brett Basarab, Daniel Abdi, Paul Madden, Isidora Jankov
arXiv AI
Sep 16

Composable multi-satellite precipitation estimation for evolving observing systems

The paper introduces PRISMA, a generative framework that separates precipitation prior training from sensor-specific constraints, allowing flexible composition of heterogeneous satellite observations without retraining the core model. By integrating FY‑4B/AGRI, GPM/GMI, F16‑F18 SSMIS, and GPM/DPR‑Ka data, PRISMA consistently improves precipitation‑estimation accuracy and outperforms IMERG Final in CRPS and RMSE while maintaining positive Brier skill across thresholds. The framework supports rapid, accurate ensemble precipitation estimates, enhancing satellite‑based monitoring for hydrometeorological hazards.

By Yunfan Yang, Haofei Sun, Xiuyu Sun, Wei Han, Xiaoze Xu, Xingtao Song, Jun Li, Zhiqiu Gao, Wei Huang
arXiv Machine Learning
Sep 2

GenONet: A Generative operator Network for High-Resolution Precipitation Nowcasting

GenONet introduces a Spatio-Temporal U-DeepONet architecture that serves as a generator in a GAN framework for high‑resolution precipitation nowcasting up to three hours ahead. By learning continuous‑time precipitation dynamics with a Deep Operator Network and enforcing physics through a moisture‑conservation loss, the model produces sharp, physically consistent forecasts that outperform baselines, especially for high‑intensity events and longer lead times. Ablation studies confirm the added value of the physics‑informed regularizer and the synergy of operator learning with adversarial training.

By Mohammad Kian Golkar, Luciano Alves de Oliveira, Mohammad Khanjani