For more than a century, the American Meteorological Society (AMS) has played a crucial role in the global scientific community, advancing research about atmospheric, oceanic, and hydrologic sciences and bolstering public understanding of these fields. With more than 12,000 members globally, the organization strives to advance the atmospheric and related sciences, technologies, applications, and services for the benefit of society. 

One of the organization’s key publications in service of this mission is the AMS Glossary of Meteorology, which has served as an authoritative resource for the meteorological community for more than 60 years. This pivotal living document contains more than 12,000 scientifically defined terms and counts a user base of over half a million annually. 

Despite the significant impact of this essential reference, language barriers have limited further reach and access among global non-English speaking communities, including many Spanish speakers in the United States. Realizing the opportunity to amplify the impact of this free online resource dramatically, the team at the AMS initiated a pilot project to publish the first non-English version of the glossary. Reaching speakers of other languages could dramatically enhance understanding of vital meteorological information and ultimately improve public safety, especially for the 42 million people in the United States who speak Spanish at home. 

However, with more than 12,000 terms and definitions, amounting to more than 650,000 total words, this was no small feat. For this undertaking, AMS Senior Project Manager Rebecca Perriello and the team initiated a request for a proposal process to find a translation partner that could deliver high-quality translation at scale. With support from the AMS Committee for Hispanic and Latinx Advancement (CHALA), the Scientific and Technological Activities Commission (STAC), and a group of more than a dozen volunteers, multiple potential vendors were assessed on meaning, functional and textual adequacy, target language mechanics, and style, register, and idiomaticity.

After this rigorous review process, LILT, the leading AI solution for translation and content creation, was chosen to support the AMS with this important pilot initiative. LILT and the AMS have published the first phase of the Glossary of Meteorology en Español with the 50 most viewed English-language glossary terms translated into Spanish.

The terminology and definitions featured in the Glossary of Meteorology are not only technical and field-specific but also dynamic, updated periodically as the fields evolve. To manage translation of these complex terms, LILT’s Contextual AI-driven approach enables quality and appropriate style, delivered quickly. 

When the definitions from the glossary are ready for translation, LILT linguists, working in the Contextual AI Platform, review translation prompts, generated by the AMS’s unique Contextual AI Engine and provide feedback. In addition to guaranteeing the quality and accuracy of the translation, this linguist feedback also trains the Contextual AI Engine in real time. This AI-driven process enables the Contextual AI Engine to learn the AMS’s language preferences to deliver higher accuracy with higher velocity for this industry-specific content.

Building on the successful pilot, the AMS hopes to obtain funding to translate much more of this vital resource in partnership with LILT.