2nd Latin America and Caribbean Advances on Weather Forecasting
Chairs Workshop
- Esteban Hernández (CyberColombia)
- Saulo R. Freitas (INPE)
- Yanina Garcia Skabar(SMN)
Submission Format
- Invited talks, and peer-reviewed papers and use case demonstration
Description of the workshop
The landscape of global atmospheric science research changed significantly in early 2026. With the restructuring and dismantling of legacy centers like the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), the LAC region faces a critical choice: wait for external leadership or build a self-sustaining, collaborative ecosystem. This year’s workshop focuses on sovereignty in forecasting—moving beyond traditional North-South dependencies..
As we move away from total reliance on specific governmental institutions, we will explore three key pillars of regional sustainability:
● Global Alternatives & European Partnerships: We will highlight increased collaboration with the ECMWF (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts) and the WMO, focusing on the Integrated Forecasting System (IFS) and initiatives like Euroclima, which provide robust modeling frameworks and funding for green transitions in LAC.
● The AI Revolution as an Equalizer: AI-driven models (e.g., GraphCast, FourCastNet, and the Aardvark system) are significantly less computationally expensive than traditional HPC-run numerical models. We will showcase how LAC institutions can run high-precision, hyper-local forecasts “in-house” without needing massive supercomputing clusters.
● Showcasing Regional Leadership: The workshop will shine a spotlight on active regional efforts, such as INPE and Brazilian Community and the SMN (Argentina), which are already analyzing how AI outperforms traditional global models in specific LAC topographies.