Imagine you wake up early in the morning, eager to see dazzling carpets of brilliant orange flowers. Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve<\/a>. The Instagram post promised a stellar performance.<\/p>\n You drive north to the reserve north of Los Angeles, but the rolling hills aren’t alive with color.<\/p>\n Bummer. The flower is finished.<\/p>\n Thanks to AI and a local scientist, such frustrations may soon be a thing of the past.<\/p>\n This year, Steve Klosterman, a biologist who works on natural climate solutions, launched a “Wildflower Forecast,”<\/a> Deep-learning models, powered by satellite imagery and weather data.<\/p>\n In a way, Klosterman of Santa Monica developed the device to meet his need.<\/p>\n Last spring, the Midwest transplant was eager to see some wild flowers. He assumed there were few online resources that provided predictions or leveraged satellite images.<\/p>\n “Surely, there must be something,” he recalled thinking. “But there was nothing.”<\/p>\n There are equipment. State Reserve operates live camera<\/a> Training was given on a portion of land. California native Theodore Payne runs a plant nursery and education center Wildflower Hotline<\/a>Where people can call and listen to weekly recorded reports on hot spots.<\/p>\n \u201cThese are all necessary resources,\u201d Klosterman said. “Plus, they’re limited.”<\/p>\n Klosterman is no green when it comes to plants. His PhD at Harvard focused on the timing of new leaves emerging on trees in the spring and color change in the fall.<\/p>\n For a class project, the team he was part of created a website that predicted changes in those leaves in the Boston area. It was a hit. <\/p>\n California poppies bloom in Lancaster, near the state nature reserve, in mid-March. <\/p>\n (Kayla Bartkowski\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n To create the Poppy Bloom Predictor, Klosterman turned to AI initially developed for medical imaging. Instead they have used it to analyze satellite images of Antelope Valley.<\/p>\n The model scans a 10 by 10 meter square of land to determine whether poppies are present by their orange color. (It also identifies the small yellow flowers called goldfields.)<\/p>\n The model is trained on past weather data as well as satellite images \u2013 dating back nine years.<\/p>\n It then uses the current forecast and recent flower conditions to infer the future.<\/p>\n If the mercury is about to reach 100 degrees and the wind is blowing – and in previous years that has caused flowers to wilt – this will guide the forecast.<\/p>\n Right now, the model can forecast five days out and, as Klosterman says, “is very much a work in progress.” It would have been better, more powerful, if it had had 100 years to learn.<\/p>\n As more data is collected, it may someday be able to make forecasts a week or two out.<\/p>\n Right now, poppies are arriving at the sanctuary in the western Mojave Desert.<\/p>\n It rained throughout the fall and winter, and poppies need at least seven inches of rain to perform well, said Lori Ware, an interpreter at the reserve.<\/p>\n It seems like snowfall in January pushes them to another level, but that hasn’t been the case this season. That said, it’s a nice flower, but not extraordinary. <\/p>\n Still, the poppy \u2013 California’s state flower \u2013 blankets areas of protected land.<\/p>\n \u201cIt almost looks like Cheeto dust,\u201d she said, \u201clike someone put a Cheeto on their fingers and spread it across the landscape.\u201d <\/p>\n He said poppy production here usually peaks in mid-April, but in recent years it has become difficult to predict due to changing weather conditions. Klosterman believes the potential is at its peak right now.<\/p>\n Still blooming: goldfields, purple grape soda lupine and owl’s clover. Weir described the latter, also purple, as resembling a “little owl with little eyes looking at you and a little beak”. <\/p>\n An SUV passes through blooming flowers near the reserve. Lori Ware, an interpreter at the reserve, said, “It almost looks as if … someone put Cheetos on their fingers and spread it across the landscape.” <\/p>\n (Kayla Bartkowski\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n On Sunday, Klosterman experienced the blooms for himself, using his technique as a guide.<\/p>\n It presents predictions in two forms. The first is the amount of the valley \u2013 shown in a satellite image \u2013 that is covered with poppies and gold fields, expressed as a percentage. The second is a covering of orange and yellow splashes on the ground.<\/p>\n The map showed large amounts of poppy seeds near a section of Highway 138. He went there and, lo and behold, vibrant flowers were waiting for him. He sent proof: a smiling selfie in front of a sea of \u200b\u200bflowers.<\/p>\n Klosterman’s tool could help answer arguably more complex questions than whether to poppy or not to poppy, such as a more precise understanding of the conditions necessary for flowers to thrive.<\/p>\n Experts know rainfall is important, but it’s more complex than that.<\/p>\n Steve Klosterman takes a selfie in a field of California poppies. <\/p>\n (Steve Klosterman)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/ca-times.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/685c5db\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/5272x3948+0+0\/resize\/320x240!\/format\/webp\/quality\/75\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F7c%2F53%2Fe9f6962149f1b529ac32d1fcf610%2F1545674-wk-where-to-see-wildflowers-klb-270.jpg)
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