As typhoon Chanthu wreaked havoc on East Asia in 2021, meteorologists and government leaders scrambled to figure out what was coming next. The future of improving such predictions may lie with digital twins – virtual replicas of the Earth that can simulate extreme weather events, helping us make safer decisions about evacuation, infrastructure, and more. But what exactly are digital twins, and how do they work?

An increasing number of companies and organizations are investing in digital twins, driven by advancements in technology and the desire to gain deeper insights into data. But, just like the physical Earth, digital twins come with their own set of complexities. "It's really about business process, or business process transformation using technology," says Alfonso Velosa, analyst at IT consultancy Gartner. "Whether it's a research institution or a business, building a twin of Earth should ideally have a specific purpose or answer a specific question."

For instance, researchers at the University of Florida's environmental engineering sciences department are working on a project to create a digital twin of Florida, focusing on issues like housing hazards and health. Similarly, NASA's Earth Science Division is using digital twins to mirror human-made systems, like power grids or roadways, to examine how climate change could affect those systems over time.

But what makes digital twins so powerful? For one, they can play out scenarios that haven't happened – or maybe won't happen – helping us prepare for the worst. "If you have a road that you want to build in a coastal area, what is that coastal area going to look like in 20 years?" asks Michael Seablom, head of NASA's Earth Science and Technology Office. "Playing out scenarios that haven't happened is one of the key use cases for a digital twin."

Generative AI is also making its way into the world of Earth digital twins. For one, it can enhance the visual representation of the Earth – not every digital twin has a visual component. BlackShark.ai's Orca Huntr generative AI engine, for instance, can create buildings based on what they typically look like in a specific area of the world.

So, what's the future of digital twins? While their efficacy largely remains to be seen, researchers hope that their impact will be far-reaching. "Aside from the noble aspirations of digital twins, which could help make crucial decisions about how to battle wildfires, evacuate endangered communities, and fight climate change, Gartner's Velosa notes there's product potential here, too. A company, for example, could one day sell a city its twin or pitch the twin to insurance companies."

However, creating reliable digital twins presents challenges. "One of the big goals is to be able to aggregate different types of data and look for interconnections," says Christine Angelini, an associate professor at the University of Florida's environmental engineering sciences department. "However, she noted that there can be a huge disparity in the quality and reliability of data from different sources."

Edition Earth: How Digital Twins Are Revolutionizing the Way We Make Safe Decisions for the Planet

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