Climavision acquires Intersphere, bolstering leadership in AI-powered weather prediction

April 30, 2024 at 08:55 AM EDT

Combined expertise will deliver detailed forecasts to energy and other industries on an unprecedented time horizon

Energy investors, producers and traders now have access to critical weather and climate insights earlier than ever before, thanks to the combined expertise of two leaders in AI-powered weather prediction.

Louisville, KY-based Climavision, a leader in advanced weather modeling and forecasting technology, has acquired Intersphere, a fast-growing innovator specializing in subseasonal-to-seasonal (S2S) forecasting – predicting weather up to a year in advance. Intersphere’s unique technology and expertise will build on Climavision's own AI-powered weather prediction and decades of experience in numerical weather prediction. The result is a market-ready solution that energy customers can use to immediately improve their productivity, profitability, and resilience.

Intersphere’s AI (Artificial Intelligence) process generates specific probability scenarios for virtually any aspect of the energy industry down to units as small as an individual wind farm. By combining that data with Climavision’s existing suite of high-resolution and global weather models, energy clients will have reliable, specific probabilities across a range of scenarios – with enough lead time to make both strategic and tactical decisions. By identifying likely weather developments months in advance, clients could potentially improve resiliency of power grids, deploy resources to maximize efficiency, and even leverage energy markets more effectively.

For example, Extreme weather events – such as the winter storms that shut down the ERCOT grid and led to over $195 billion in property damage and more than 200 deaths in 2021 – sometimes arrive without enough warning to mitigate the effects. But with Intersphere’s expertise on board, Climavision will be able to predict those kinds of events with specificity up to 90 days out. For power providers, that could provide enough time to enhance the weatherization of assets, secure fuel supplies for backup systems, and make plans for managing demand – steps that could prevent a costly and potentially deadly grid failure.

“We’re thrilled to welcome the Intersphere team, whose expertise in AI weather and climate tech perfectly complements our mission,” said Chris Goode, CEO of Climavision. “By seamlessly blending Climavision's unmatched expertise in Numerical Weather Prediction with their cutting-edge generative AI technology, we are revolutionizing the landscape of weather forecasting. This dynamic synergy not only enhances precision and accuracy but also paves the way for unprecedented insights into our ever-changing climate."

"Joining forces with Climavision creates a dynamic powerhouse in the weather technology sector," added Ben Toms, Ph.D., CEO of Intersphere. "Our technology extends Climavision's forecasting capabilities from weeks to years into the future. The holy grail of weather and climate forecasting is understanding any possibility of what can happen as far in advance as possible. Partnering with Climavision gets us much closer to reaching that goal."

Key Benefits of the Climavision-Intersphere Integration:

AI-Driven Forecasting Across Time Scales: Climavision's proprietary datasets and experience with physics-based forecasting seamlessly integrate with Intersphere's S2S technology and AI capabilities, increasing accuracy and extending forecast horizons for critical weather events.
Extended Lead Times for Proactive Planning: S2S forecasting enables businesses to make informed decisions weeks to months to even years in advance, offering ample time for adapting strategies and optimizing resources.
Communication of Uncertainty: As organizations continue to seek to quantify risk and a range of outcomes, Intersphere’s suite of ensemble forecasts offer probabilistic information to maximize confidence.

About Climavision

Climavision brings together the power of a proprietary, high resolution supplemental weather radar network, combined with advanced weather prediction modeling, including cutting-edge AI forecasting technology, and decades of expertise, to close significant weather observation gaps and drastically improve forecast speed and accuracy. Climavision’s revolutionary approach to climate technology is poised to help reduce the economic risks of volatile weather on companies, governments, and communities alike. Climavision is backed by The Rise Fund, the world’s largest global impact platform committed to achieving measurable, positive social and environmental outcomes alongside competitive financial returns. The company is headquartered in Louisville, KY, with research and development operations in Raleigh, NC. To learn more, visit www.Climavision.com.

About Intersphere

Intersphere uses proprietary AI models to issue weather and climate forecasts from weeks to months into the future. Their algorithms improve forecast accuracy, increase the amount of time customers have to act on a forecast, and provide more details about probabilistic information. Customers in energy, insurance, and agriculture can use this information to make more strategic decisions about the impacts of weather on their business. The company is based out of Fort Collins, CO.