AMS Launches New Journal: 
Artificial Intelligence for the Earth Systems (AIES)

The AMS Council has approved a proposal from the AMS Publications Commission to establish a new journal focused on Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Data Science and related fields as applied to meteorological and ocean sciences. The journal’s scope will also encompass the ethical and responsible use of AI/ML for the sciences that AMS covers. The new journal will begin accepting submissions for peer review starting in the fall of 2021.

Artificial Intelligence for the Earth Systems (AIES) will publish research on the development and application of methods in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), data science, and statistics that is relevant to meteorology, atmospheric science, hydrology, climate science, and ocean sciences. Topics will include: 

  • Development of AI/ML, statistical, and hybrid methods and their application  
  • Development and application of methods to further the physical understanding of earth system processes from AI/ML models such as explainable and physics-based AI
  • The use of AI/ML to emulate components of numerical weather and climate models 
  • Incorporation of AI/ML into observation and remote sensing platforms
  • The use of AI/ML for data assimilation and uncertainty quantification
  • Societal applications of AI/ML for AIES disciplines, including ethical and responsible use of AI/ML and educational research on AI/ML

Dr. Amy McGovern will serve as the journal’s Editor in Chief. Dr. McGovern is a professor in the School of Computer Science and in the School of Meteorology at the University of Oklahoma. Dr. McGovern is also the director of the NSF AI Institute for Research on Trustworthy AI in Weather, Climate, and Coastal Oceanography.

UPDATE 25 October 2021: Artificial Intelligence for the Earth Systems (AIES) is now accepting submissions. Please visit the AIES information page to find out more.

UPDATE 8 September 2021: Dr. McGovern and AMS Publications Commissioner Dr. Anthony J. Broccoli are pleased to announce the appointments of the following to AIES’s Editorial Board: 

John T. Allen, Central Michigan University
William F. Campbell, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
Scott M. Collis, Argonne National Laboratory
David John Gagne II, NCAR
Ruoying He, North Carolina State University
Michael Scheuerer, Norwegian Computing Center, NR
Haruko Murakami Wainwright, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

In their proposal to the Council on launching this new journal, Dr. McGovern and the Publications Commission noted that the journal would be appropriate for novel AI/ML and statistical methods as well as the application of AI/ML and statistics. Currently AMS journals primarily publish applications of AI/ML and statistics, rather than the development of novel methodologies. The aim is to create a community of AI/ML practice for the AMS sciences.

Notes Dr. McGovern: “The use of artificial intelligence and machine learning methods to understand the atmosphere–land–ocean system is on the rise. The new journal is a timely addition to the AMS family of journals.”

AMS President Dr. Michael Farrar notes “Artificial Intelligence and machine learning offer exciting opportunities to improve our understanding of weather, water, and climate. AMS is excited to host a new journal to improve the science of AI and its applications for AMS related sciences.”

UPDATE 8 September 2021: AIES will be a fully Open Access journal, with the final published version of all articles permanently and freely available online for all to read. Details on author fees for AIES (and other AMS journals) can be found on the Page Charges, Waivers, and Fees page.