IndabaX Madagascar 2024: Empowering AI Solutions for Local Challenges with a Storm Nowcasting Hackathon

Mendrika Rakotomanga, a PhD researcher in the School of Mathematics, has led a hackathon event in his home country of Madagascar. In the hackathon, a group of data science students will create innovative AI-based solutions for predicting the movement of thunderstorms. This activity is the first of its kind in the region, and has the potential to deliver new algorithms for the prediction of severe weather.

Storm nowcasting for Nosy Be: Using real-time data from the nearest storm (colored blob) at time t0, including location, size, intensity, and distance to Dakar, to forecast storm activity in Nosy Be (red plus sign) for the next 1 to 3 hours.

IndabaX Madagascar 2024, taking place in Antananarivo from December 13 to 15, is a key event bringing together Malagasy students, researchers and Artificial Intelligence (AI) enthusiasts to explore the applications of AI in addressing local challenges. The event features a variety of workshops, keynotes, an ideathon, and poster sessions. One of the most exciting aspects is the storm nowcasting hackathon, is the first of its kind in Madagascar, where participants will develop innovative AI solutions for predicting thunderstorms in real-time, focusing on Nosy Be, an important economic region of Madagascar prone to frequent thunderstorms.

This hackathon topic is inspired by the recent work of Mendrika Rakotomanga, a Postgraduate Researcher in Applied Mathematics, and his supervisory team, led by Professor Douglas Parker. They have developed an effective storm-based machine learning approach to predict thunderstorms at specific locations in the Western Sahel over the next few hours, known as nowcasting. This approach uses real-time data from nearby storms, including key factors such as time of observation, location, intensity, size, and distance, all extracted from satellite observations. The data is made available through a collaboration between the University of Leeds and the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UKCEH).

The event is supported by several key international sponsors and partners, including Deep Learning Indaba, the WISER-EWSA project, and the University of Leeds. Local partners include various organisations such as the University of Antananarivo's research centre in environmental education, coding and algorithm-focused clubs, AI labs and startups, the Malagasy Women in STEM Association, and others.

Hackathon teams in Madagascar