AI-simulated hurricanes could aid in designing more resilient buildings

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have devised a new method of digitally simulating hurricanes in an effort to create more resilient buildings.

A recent study asserts that the simulations can accurately represent the trajectory and wind speeds of a collection of actual storms. The authors suggest that simulating numerous realistic hurricanes with the new approach can lead to improved guidelines for the design of buildings in hurricane-prone regions.

The technology makes it possible to observe hundreds of simulated hurricanes to see where they strike on the coast, and how intense they are. The simulated storms can be used to create data used in hurricane wind maps.

Advances in AI-based tools and years of recorded hurricane records have made it possible to produce more realistic hurricane wind maps in future years—particularly in areas that are not struck by many hurricanes.