A Physics-guided Multimodal Transformer Path to Weather and Climate Sciences

Abstract: With the rapid development of machine learning in recent years, many problems in meteorology can now be addressed using AI models. In particular, data-driven algorithms have significantly improved accuracy compared to traditional methods. Meteorological data is often transformed into 2D images or 3D videos, which are then fed into AI models for learning. Additionally, these models often incorporate physical signals, such as temperature, pressure, and wind speed, to further enhance accuracy and interpretability. In this paper, we review several representative AI + Weather/Climate algorithms and propose a new paradigm where observational data from different perspectives, each with distinct physical meanings, are treated as multimodal data and integrated via transformers. Furthermore, key weather and climate knowledge can be incorporated through regularization techniques to further strengthen the model's capabilities. This new paradigm is versatile and can address a variety of tasks, offering strong generalizability. We also discuss future directions for improving model accuracy and interpretability.