The gap between forecasts and reality can change public emotions during disasters

What happens when weather forecasts do not match reality? How does the public emotionally respond when a disaster unfolds differently from what they expected? A research team led by Professor Jonghun Kam and Kiru Kim from the Department of Environmental Engineering at POSTECH investigated how forecast error types influenced public emotion during the landfall of Typhoon Khanun. Using artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing (NLP), the researchers found that different types of forecast error (e.g., overestimation and underestimation) triggered distinct emotional responses among the public. The study has been published in GeoHealth.