November 17, 2021
New research collaboration on artificial intelligence in geophysics
Cooperation agreement signed with The Institute of Seismological Research Gandhinagar
Earthquakes regularly cause devastating destruction in many regions around the world. Even though analysis and measurement methods have steadily evolved over the past decades, reliable prediction is still not possible. The occurrence of earthquakes within the stable interiors of tectonic plates is still an enigma. Gujarat, in northwest India, is one such region that witnessed two devastating earthquakes in a span of 200 years. FIAS and the Institute of Seismological Research (ISR) in Gandhinagar have now agreed on long-term research cooperation using novel artificial intelligence methods to understand the earthquake occurrence in the region.
"In the past few years, we have seen the glimpse of the potential of AI in Seismology. We believe this international collaboration will leverage the scientific expertise of both the institutes to understand what could be further achieved by using this rapidly growing technique," states Nishtha Srivastava.
Under her leadership, the "Seismology and Artificial Intelligence" research group at FIAS, established in 2020, focuses on state-of-the-art deep learning and machine learning approaches for earthquake data. The group has, in collaboration with FIAS Fellows Prof. Dr. Georg Rümpker and Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Horst Stöcker, successfully developed deep learning-based models for earthquake and volcanic event detection, seismic phase picking, and magnitude estimation.
At ISR, the “Observational Seismology” and “Solid Earth Geophysics” groups under the leadership of Dr. Sumer Chopra supported by senior scientists Dr. Santosh Kumar and Dr. K.M.Rao are studying the physics of earthquakes in the Indian Peninsula.
Over the next five years, FIAS and ISR will combine their expertise in a cooperative research program. In addition to the exchange of scientists, as well as the publication of the results obtained, the activities will also focus on the joint training of young scientists.
Georg Rümpker, Fellow at FIAS and Professor of Geophysics at Goethe University, is eagerly awaiting the first results of the cooperation: “The ISR has collected a huge amount of earthquake data that can only be fully exploited by application of new AI-based methods that we are planning to develop through this collaboration. The analyses will provide new insights on earthquake processes in stable continental interiors.”
