Abstract
Most deep learning weather models assign a fixed set of variables and pressure levels to predefined channels, limiting transfer across atmospheric field configurations. This dependence on a fixed field set limits the transferability of trained models across atmospheric field configurations. We propose FlexCast, a field-adaptive weather forecasting model that uses a single set of parameters to produce identity-aligned forecasts for variable-cardinality subsets drawn from a 69-field ERA5 registry. Specifically, a metadata-conditioned adapter the first encodes variable identity, pressure level, and field type and combines them with spatial features. Then, shared rank-16 projec?tions are modulated by metadata-dependent gates to produce field?specific features, while masked set fusion aggregates the available fields into a fixed-width representation. Subsequently, a multiscale U-Transformer processes the fused atmospheric features, while an identity-aware query decoder produces forecasts for the requested fields. Finally, FlexCast learns a standardized six-hour increment and applies it recursively to generate forecasts at longer lead times. Experiments on the 2020 ERA5 test set demonstrate that FlexCast operates across varying field configurations. Compatible cross-field context is associated with lower forecast errors, whereas mismatched context increases them.
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- Open access
- Green open access
Cite this article
APA 7
Zhang, Y., Hui, C., Lin, W., Zhu, H., Wang, X., Kung, S. Y., & Jiang, F. (2026). FlexCast: Adaptive Weather Forecasting from Arbitrary Field Sets. https://omanscience.com/en/articles/flexcast-adaptive-weather-forecasting-from-arbitrary-field-sets
MLA 9
Zhang, Yuang, et al. "FlexCast: Adaptive Weather Forecasting from Arbitrary Field Sets." https://omanscience.com/en/articles/flexcast-adaptive-weather-forecasting-from-arbitrary-field-sets.
Chicago (author–date)
Zhang, Yuang, Chen Hui, Weisi Lin, Haiqi Zhu, Xiulai Wang, Sun-Yuan Kung, and Feng Jiang. 2026. "FlexCast: Adaptive Weather Forecasting from Arbitrary Field Sets." https://omanscience.com/en/articles/flexcast-adaptive-weather-forecasting-from-arbitrary-field-sets.
Harvard
Zhang, Y., Hui, C., Lin, W., Zhu, H., Wang, X., Kung, S. Y. and Jiang, F. (2026) 'FlexCast: Adaptive Weather Forecasting from Arbitrary Field Sets', Available at: https://omanscience.com/en/articles/flexcast-adaptive-weather-forecasting-from-arbitrary-field-sets.
Vancouver
Zhang Y, Hui C, Lin W, Zhu H, Wang X, Kung SY, et al. FlexCast: Adaptive Weather Forecasting from Arbitrary Field Sets. https://omanscience.com/en/articles/flexcast-adaptive-weather-forecasting-from-arbitrary-field-sets
IEEE
Y. Zhang, C. Hui, W. Lin, H. Zhu, X. Wang, S. Y. Kung, and F. Jiang, "FlexCast: Adaptive Weather Forecasting from Arbitrary Field Sets," https://omanscience.com/en/articles/flexcast-adaptive-weather-forecasting-from-arbitrary-field-sets.