Earth‑2 is Nvidia’s open‑source AI suite that combines four high‑performance weather models with developer tools to speed up data assimilation, nowcasting, and medium‑range forecasting. Designed for scientists, startups, enterprises, and governments, the suite runs on GPUs to deliver forecasts in seconds, cutting the cost and complexity of traditional supercomputer‑based weather prediction.
What Earth‑2 Provides
The Earth‑2 stack bundles core AI models and open‑source software that together cover the entire weather forecasting workflow, from raw observations to high‑resolution predictions.
Core AI Models
- Earth‑2 Global Data Assimilation (HealDA) – Generates initial atmospheric conditions in seconds using GPU acceleration, replacing hour‑long supercomputer runs.
- Earth‑2 Nowcasting (StormScope) – Produces kilometer‑scale, zero‑to‑six‑hour predictions of local storms and hazardous weather.
- Earth‑2 Medium Range (Atlas) – Delivers 15‑day global forecasts across 70+ variables such as temperature, pressure, wind, and humidity.
- Earth‑2 CorrDiff – Downscales continental forecasts to high‑resolution regional predictions.
Open‑Source Tools
- Earth2Studio – An inference‑pipeline framework that streamlines model deployment and integration.
- Physics Nemo – A toolkit for training custom weather and climate models on GPU clusters.
Why Open‑Source Accelerates Forecasting
By releasing the models and tools under an open license, Nvidia removes barriers to entry for organizations without dedicated high‑performance computing resources. Developers can customize code, train on local datasets, and retain full ownership of their forecasts, fostering rapid innovation and collaboration across the weather community.
Early Adoption and Use Cases
Several AI‑focused weather service providers have already integrated Earth‑2 Medium Range into operational pipelines to issue daily global forecasts. Logistics firms leverage the nowcasting model for hyper‑local storm predictions, enabling real‑time route adjustments and staffing decisions. National agencies are exploring sovereign forecasting systems built on the open suite.
Technical Advantages Over Traditional Models
Earth‑2 Nowcasting outperforms conventional physics‑based models on short‑term precipitation forecasting by directly simulating storm dynamics from raw satellite and radar data. The Atlas architecture for medium‑range forecasts achieves up to 60‑times faster inference compared with traditional numerical weather prediction pipelines, thanks to GPU acceleration and diffusion‑based modeling.
Industry Impact and Applications
High‑resolution forecasts from Earth‑2 empower logistics operators to pre‑emptively reroute shipments, energy utilities to balance grid loads during severe weather, and governments in developing regions to deploy cost‑effective, locally owned forecasting systems. Researchers can experiment with novel diffusion architectures, integrate additional observational datasets, and extend the models to climate‑scale simulations.
Challenges and Considerations
Transitioning from experimental AI models to operational forecasting requires rigorous validation to meet public safety standards. Organizations without existing GPU infrastructure may face upfront hardware costs, and the reliability of AI‑driven predictions must be continuously benchmarked against established models.
Future Outlook
Nvidia’s Earth‑2 initiative positions AI as a central component of the weather and climate domain, promising faster, more accessible, and customizable forecasting. As partners integrate the suite into production pipelines, the industry will closely monitor whether AI can consistently match or exceed the reliability of legacy supercomputing‑based systems, potentially ushering in a new era of ubiquitous weather intelligence.
