IBM’s Watson may be the talk of the tech nerds these days, but IBM’s “Deep” generation of supercomputers haven’t faded into complete obscurity since Deep Blue beat Garry Kasparov in chess 15 years ago. In fact, its brother, Deep Thunder will bring its hyper-precise weather forecasts to the iPad.
Talking Points Memo says Deep Thunder can track weather over an 84-hour period and pinpoint it down within a zone of one square mile (2.6sqkm).
IBM achieves the incredibly detailed forecast by using a combination of public weather data from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NASA, the U.S. Geological Survey, WeatherBug, and other weather sensors on the ground, including IBM’s own sensors.
Sadly, the app isn’t a consumer-ready product quite yet; it will be used largely in professional sectors. But it’s already being put to use in the city of Rio de Janeiro (as part of a weather alert system), and will play a role there in logistics for the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics. [Talking Points Memo via Cult of Mac]
Image: Basheer Tome