A Conversation with Büşra on Transformation in Weather Intelligence
Gökmen: Büşra Hello. How are you today?
Büşra: I’m good, thank you. How about you?
Gökmen: I’m good too. Büşra, we’re going to talk about you today. Shall we start from there?
Büşra: Of course. Büşra is a meteorological engineer, and she is also a master’s degree candidate in atmospheric science. I decided to continue with a master’s degree due to my curiosity about meteorology. I’m currently in the final stages of my studies. And I also work at Buluttan. I practice my hobby and my passion as my profession.
Gökmen: Great! What else? Besides meteorology and atmospheric sciences, what does Büşra enjoy, what does she spend her time on, what is she interested in?
Büşra: I can say I’m more of a sports enthusiast. I used to play sports before, so I really enjoy being a spectator now. I also like doing outdoor activities like walking, even if it’s just a stroll. I have these small hobbies.
Gökmen: Great! So, it’s not very difficult for a meteorological engineer to intersect with Buluttan because in Turkey, there are limited resources and alternatives for anyone who wants to do something in commercial, operational terms, in the market, in the private sector. Now Buluttan is moving towards being an alternative here. Can you tell us a bit about how your paths intersected, how that happened?
Büşra: Of course, I got to know Buluttan’s application when I was in my last year as an undergraduate student. There were many weather apps, but it was the only app developed by a Turkish team that caught my eye. Later, when I graduated, I learned that there was a job opportunity at Buluttan and attended interviews. I’ve been one of the team’s former members for almost 1.5 to 2 years now.
Gökmen: We’re getting older now, quite some time has passed, hasn’t it? What have you been doing for approximately 1.5-2 years, what have you been dealing with mostly, both today and in the past? If you could take us on a journey.
Büşra: Actually, when Buluttan was founded, and even now, there is no company in Turkey that fully covers meteorology in the private sector, there still isn’t. So, it’s like starting from scratch, building meteorological systems from the ground up, and we’ve come a long way in this one and a half years. I’ve spent a lot of time developing prediction systems related to extreme weather events, especially. Currently, I’ve started working more on numerical weather prediction modeling, that’s how it’s going.
Gökmen: Great! We’ve been talking among ourselves; a transformation is happening in weather intelligence, it’s already happening. On one hand, the diversity and depth of the data we collect are increasing horizontally and vertically. On the other hand, data processing capabilities are increasing in the world, in Turkey, and thus, in us, and it’s becoming cheaper and faster. When we combine these two, a paradigm shift is already happening. Both the struggle between statistical models and physical models, their hybridity, their contributions to each other, and their areas of use, their weights are changing significantly. How do you see the development of weather intelligence globally in this context, and what do you think are the possible roles Buluttan will play here? How do you evaluate Buluttan’s development?
Büşra: Well, meteorology has been a problem for people for a very long time, but the improvement in predictions has been happening for about the last 50 years, let’s say. The biggest reason for this is the advancement in computer and computing capacity. Due to the technology we are in right now, I actually think that meteorological science will rise very rapidly with the development of computers that can calculate faster and provide quicker results. Buluttan is actually taking the necessary steps from today to catch up with this and even surpass it. Especially in Turkey, we are progressing quite fast towards being unrivaled, focusing on catching up with and surpassing our competitors worldwide. I am confident that we will achieve a significant success worldwide very soon.
Gökmen: Super! So, what do you mean to Burcu, who promotes, explains what we do in various media, supports us, and organized this interview?
Büşra: We love Burcu, she really puts in a lot of effort. She plays a very important role in meteorology reaching the public, increasing the meteorological literacy of the public; she’s dedicated to this work. We love her.
Gökmen: Super, that’s it for today. Until we meet again, greetings and love.
Büşra: Until we meet again!
