Media Release | Jan. 9, 2002
"Monster" computer powers advanced weather forecasting
UBC researchers may soon be able to provide special emergency weather
forecasts that could help save lives in natural disasters in B.C.
similar to the recent bush fires in Sydney, Australia, thanks to
the recent acquisition of a massive high-performance computer.
Dubbed "Monster," the computer was designed and built by IBM to
facilitate UBC's new Geophysical Disaster Computational Fluid Dynamics
Centre, which studies weather-related and other natural disasters
including avalanches, forest fires, and earthquakes.
"Ultimately, this computer will enable us to provide high-resolution
forecasting for individual 3.3-square kilometre grids covering the
entire province, and one-kilometre grids covering the Lower Mainland
and southern Vancouver Island," says the centre's director, Earth
and Ocean Sciences Prof. Roland Stull.
Through precise forecasting of imminent conditions in very specific
regions, firefighters and disaster crews would be better equipped
to make more informed decisions about where to concentrate their
resources, Stull says.
According to the latest Top 500 list of the world's fastest supercomputers,
Monster is the fourth fastest system in Canada and number 255 in
the world. Its purchase was made possible by infrastructure grants
from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), the B.C. Knowledge
Development Fund and through a collaboration with IBM Canada.
"The large-scale weather research conducted by UBC's centre requires
an extremely powerful and efficient computing infrastructure," says
John Kutcy, general manager of Education Industry, IBM Canada Ltd.
"IBM's experience in high-performance computing, coupled with our
latest technologies, allowed us to design and implement a very cost-effective
Intel-based Linux cluster with the performance and capacity needed
for UBC researchers to identify and analyse important climate trends
in B.C."
In addition to providing daily, tailored weather forecasts and
special emergency forecasts for government and industry clients,
Stull hopes that the centre will set new standards and techniques
for weather forecasters around the world.
To arrange an interview with Prof. Roland Stull please contact
Brian Lin, UBC Public Affairs Office, 604.822.2234.
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Contact
Brian Lin
UBC Public Affairs
Tel: 604.822.2234
E-mail: brian.lin@ubc.ca
Lorraine Trott
IBM Canada
604.297.2329
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