Potential for equation discovery with AI in the climate sciences

Huntingford, Chris; Nicoll, Andrew J.; Klein, Cornelia; Ahmad, Jawairia A.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-16-475-2025

Articles | Volume 16, issue 2

https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-16-475-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-16-475-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 16, issue 2

Perspective

| Highlight paper

|

28 Mar 2025

Perspective | Highlight paper |

| 28 Mar 2025

Potential for equation discovery with AI in the climate sciences

Chris Huntingford, Andrew J. Nicoll, Cornelia Klein, and Jawairia A. Ahmad

Data sets

MSI Level-2A BOA Reflectance Product, Collection 1 Copernicus Sentinel-2 (processed by ESA) https://doi.org/10.5270/S2_-znk9xsj

Video abstract

Video highlighting paper "Potential for Equation Discovery with AI in the Climate Sciences" Chris Huntingford et al. https://vimeo.com/1049706218/20d0d72b40?share=copy

Chief editor

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is often criticised for being a "black-box" approach that provides no physical insights into the data being analysed. Very recently, a new branch of AI has emerged, called “AI-led equation discovery”. As the name suggests, it aims to reveal process equations underlying the data. This Perspective Article offers a path to align AI methods with climate research, with a focus on the use of AI-led equation discovery in support of Earth System Models.

Short summary

AI is impacting science, providing key data insights, but most algorithms are statistical requiring cautious "out-of-sample" extrapolation. Yet climate research concerns predicting future climatic states. We consider a new method of AI-led equation discovery. Equations offer process interpretation and more robust predictions. We recommend this method for climate analysis, suggesting illustrative application to atmospheric convection, land–atmosphere CO₂ flux, and global ocean circulation models.