ExpAI2ES, or Expand AI2ES, is a major NSF project of $2.7 million awarded in 2023. It was an expansion of the NSF AI Institute for Research on Trustworthy AI in Weather, Climate, and Coastal Oceanography ( AI2ES). ExpAI2ES is led by Sam Shen, Distinguished Professor, San Diego State University, Efi Foufoula-Georgiou, Distinguished Professorand Henry Samueli Endowed Chair in Engineering, University of California - Irvine, and Amy McGovern, Lloyd G. and Joyce Austin Presidential Professor, University of Oklahoma.

This website, https://4DVDweather.org, is the official site for the ExpAI2ES project. It is used to disseminate ExpAI2ES research products and provide resources support to the project researchers and students. Here, 4DVD stands for 4-dimensional visual delivery of big climate data, and is a big data technology that uses the ideas of video games and Amazon shopping to allow school children and seniors, in addition to climate scientists, to access real climate data from different organizations, e.g., NOAA and NASA. The name 4DVDweather signifies the ExpAI2ES direction of developing the next generation of 4DVD that focuses on the fine-scale weather data and their physical strunctures.

The research focus of ExpAI2ES is on AI modeling of the space-time organization and multiscale structure of precipitation and other atmospheric variables, with special emphasis on extremes and uncertainty quantification. The research will also develop 4-dimensional data visualization tools, such as the 4-dimensional visual delivery (4DVD) software, that can support a wider application of progressive education pedagogy for atmospheric sciences and AI. These research and educational advances are necessary to effectively address imminent challenges in climate change, environmental sustainability, and the costly weather extremes and hazards, while engaging a diverse and untapped pool of talent. The Progressive Education for Atmospheric Science (PEAS) framework to be established in this project will help develop new course material and improve the educational offerings of AI courses for relevant institutions. Our PEAS+AI educational framework will be further extended to the training of school teachers who together with students can use the proposed 4DVD technology for climate data visualization and discovery. The engagement with real environmental data combined with the modern video-based 4DVD AI tools will inspire students towards STEM careers to work on the pressing problems of climate science and environmental sustainability.