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FrontierThe story, in brief

Aurora 1.5: Extending open foundation models for weather and Earth-system applications

Microsoft Aurora 1.5 now forecasts 22 more Earth variables. Here's why energy companies should care.

Reporting by Microsoft Research 1 min brief
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The KeyNews take

Why it matters

Microsoft is extending its open foundation model for weather/climate with higher temporal resolution and ensemble forecasting—a capability gap that matters for renewable energy planning and climate risk modeling. This positions Azure as a serious alternative to closed-model weather APIs.

The key facts

11 to know

  1. Aurora 1.5 adds 22 additional variables vs. previous version

  2. Hourly temporal resolution (improved from coarser granularity)

  3. Probabilistic ensemble forecasting capability shipped

  4. Open foundation model released by Microsoft Research

  5. Target applications: weather, climate, energy systems

  6. Aurora 1.5 adds 22 new variables to foundation model

  7. Hourly temporal resolution (vs. previous coarser granularity)

  8. Probabilistic ensemble forecasting capability added

  9. Open foundation model (Microsoft Research)

  10. Target applications: weather, climate, energy forecasting

  11. Published via Microsoft Research (official channel)

Go to the source

Microsoft Researchmicrosoft.com

Publisher excerpt: Aurora 1.5 adds 22 more variables, hourly temporal resolution, and probabilistic ensemble forecasting to the Aurora foundation model, making it more useful for real-world weather, climate, and energy applications.
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