A group of UT researchers is using AI modeling to create user-friendly tools that track storm surges and chart their effects on the spread of infectious diseases in the Rio Grande Valley.
Planet Texas 2050, a transdisciplinary initiative focused on climate resilience, devoted a team of researchers to the AI-enabled Model Integration project, known as AIM, where AI aids in blending data with lived experiences to provide relevant information for communities.
This year, in collaboration with The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, AIM expanded its models to explore how flood surges and still water impact the spread of pathogens, according to Planet Texas 2050’s annual Fiscal Report.
Senior Research Fellow Katherine Brown said the infectious disease research on this project focuses on “preparedness for the future” and education specifically about neglected tropical diseases, which often go unrecognized in countries with a less tropical climate.
“We’re really trying to build ways of communicating the information in a way that is accessible to scientists, to policymakers and to the public,” Brown said.
Planet Texas 2050 was established in January 2017 as the first of three Bridging Barrier Grand Challenge initiatives, a University program funding projects that tackle widespread, complex issues. Katherine Lieberknecht, the inaugural Planet Texas 2050 chair, describes the initiative as expanding “outside the bounds of a research university” to connect with the community.
“Success was that we build out interdisciplinary teams, we achieve funded research proposals and that we make some kind of impact that benefits Texas residents and beyond,” Lieberknecht said.
So far, Planet Texas 2050’s 155 active researchers have earned over $34.7 million in outside funding, according to Planet Texas 2050’s annual Fiscal Report. This includes a grant for this project from the Wellcome Trust, a UK-based charity that contributed funding for an “openly accessible computational tool” that uses climate patterns to inform infectious disease management.
AIM primarily focuses on what Suzanne A. Pierce, research scientist and co-lead, calls the “knowledge capture phase” of the project. This is where they gather information from sensors and run it through uP-STREAM, a tool they created that simplifies the process of streaming data through computing facilities.
Partnering with the Museum of South Texas History, the team collects residents’ experiences through an application called Sites and Stories, which provides insight on what problems, like evacuation lead time or storm surge height, are most important to members of the impacted community.
“It’s consistent with how we could map a peer-reviewed article, but instead, we’re mapping what people’s words have told us as they tell stories about their memories,” Pierce said.
The effort has produced side projects across Texas, such as the creation of a digital twin model of Edinburg’s floodplain, and a collaboration with the Harris Country Flood Control District to use AIM technology for tunnel planning, according to Planet Texas 2050’s annual Fiscal Report.
“We’re working in Alaska, we’re working in other regions of the country, because (AI modeling) is transferable,” Pierce said. “It started here with Planet Texas, and this is just one of many incredible projects that is happening through that program.”
