Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) scientists, led by Greek associate professor Themistoklis Sapsis, developed a new algorithm that can predict extreme events that are likely to occur in the real world, by spotting instabilities that may affect climate, aircraft performance or ocean circulation.
The team at MIT has devised a framework for identifying key patterns that precede an extreme event. The framework can be applied to a wide range of complicated, multidimensional systems to pick out the warning signs that are most likely to occur in the real world. "Currently there is no method to explain when these extreme events occur," said Sapsis.
“We have applied this framework to turbulent fluid flows, which are the Holy Grail of extreme events. They’re encountered in climate dynamics in the form of extreme rainfall, in engineering fluid flows such as stresses around an airfoil, and acoustic instabilities inside gas turbines,” he said.
“If we can predict the occurrence of these extreme events, hopefully we can apply some control strategies to avoid them,” he added.
