Google DeepMind says it is releasing SatWeave and PARDIG, two datasets used in its WeatherNext 3 forecasting model, for researchers and developers. SatWeave combines satellite imagery into a global mosaic across 17 visible, water-vapor and infrared channels, updated hourly. PARDIG estimates global precipitation at roughly 10-kilometer resolution every 15 minutes.
Google says PARDIG improved hourly rain-detection skill by more than 30% over NASA’s IMERG-Final for light-to-moderate precipitation in its evaluations. The datasets’ live feeds and archives are available on Google Cloud Storage; PARDIG’s historical data, covering 1999 to 2026, is also on Google Earth Engine.
Why it matters
Researchers studying floods or droughts in places without dense radar coverage can access PARDIG’s global estimates, though its usefulness for particular local applications remains to be assessed.
