Silicon Graphics International Corp is going to build a new supercomputer that National Center for Atmospheric Research will use to analyze potential climate change. The Cheyenne supercomputer will be twice as fast with calculations as his predecessor and will be able to operate with huge volume of data sets.
Cheyenne will use Intel Xeon processors and each will reach speed of calculation of around 5.34 petaflops. This means that you can perform 5.34 quadrillion (thousand trillion) operations per second. The supercomputer will be 2.5 times faster compared to Yellowstone, which is currently used for these types of climate calculations.
The new computer will have 313 terabytes of memory and 20 petabytes of disk arrays storage. The National Center for Atmospheric Research will be able to double the array if necessary. Moreover, they will use the already available 16 petabytes connected with the current supercomputer. With these data Cheyenne will be about 100 thousand times more powerful compared to the average home computer. This super machine should be ready in 2017
Special software developed by scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder will optimize the hardware and energy consumption. Cheyenne will be three times more energy efficient compared to Yellowstone. The operating system will be SuSE Linux Enterprise Server,
All this will allow scientists to anticipate changes in currents years. Furthermore, they will be able to draw weather patterns and anticipate dangerous storms, regional climate changes, air quality and much more. Cheyenne will even be used to analyze and predict solar storms.
Detailed climate and weather prediction
High performance machines as Cheyenne allow researchers to work on detailed models that simulate complex processes and how they change in the future. These forecasts will enable key people to have best information possible future planning and decision making.
Cheyenne will accelerate work in different areas:
Severe weather prediction
Enhanced high resolution forecast models will help scientist increase forecast accuracy for severe weather events, such as cluster intense storms, hail or flooding.
Solar energy
Models for solar irradiance and cloudiness will be calculated faster and at frequent time frames and by thus giving the ability to calculate the future energy production provided by solar farms around U.S.
Regional climate change
Scientists will run detailed climate models predicting how certain regions of the world will experience the changing patterns of rainfall and temperature.
Long run forecasts
The super machine will help scientist make long run climate prediction (over 10 years) with the help of detailed models. They will focus on topics like local climate changes, drought risk, and arctic ice extend.
Air quality.
The movement of air pollutants is bad for people, especially one living inside the big crowded cities. With the help of Cheyenne’s computing power, scientists will be able to predict monitor the evolution and movement of such dangerous particles.
Related Article: Devices for monitoring air quality in your home
Solar storms
Detailed three-dimensional models of the Sun will help understand and predict the force of the Sun’s 11-year cycle. Human health and technology are affected by the Sun’s geomagnetic storms. Scientists hope that with the power of Cheyenne and the new 3D mode they will be able to make forecasts for such storms.