Tropical cyclones, which include tropical depression, tropical storms, hurricanes, and major hurricanes, are one of the costliest natural disasters globally. Hurricanes can cause upwards of 1,000 deaths and $50 billion in damages in a single event and have been responsible for well over 160,000 deaths globally in recent history.

The goal of this challenge is to estimate the wind speeds of storms at different points in time using satellite images captured throughout a storm’s life cycle and the temporal memory of the storm. Radiant Earth Foundation has worked with the NASA IMPACT team to assemble a data set of tropical storm imagery, which includes single-band satellite images at a long-wave infrared frequency and corresponding wind speed annotations. Improving initial wind speed estimates from satellite imagery could mean significant improvements in short-term storm intensity forecasting, risk approximation models, and disaster readiness and response.

Competition End Date:
Feb. 2, 2021, 11:59 p.m. UTC

Prizes:
1st $6000 and $8000 Azure credit
2nd $4500 and $6000 Azure credit
3rd $2500 and $4000 Azure credit

https://www.drivendata.org/competitions/72/predict-wind-speeds/