Meteorological Service Singapore Buys HPE Supercomputer
October 31, 2022
The
new supercomputer will speed up weather predictions and bolster climate research
into Singapore’s tropical climate trends with up to 2X more performance and
advanced modeling and simulation capabilities
Hewlett Packard Enterprise has built a new supercomputer for the Meteorological
Service Singapore (MSS) to advance weather forecasting and tropical climate
research for Singapore and the broader Southeast Asia region. The new
supercomputer replaces MSS’ existing system, delivering nearly twice as much
performance and advanced capabilities across compute, storage, software and
networking.
As climate modeling becomes increasingly complex due to new seasonal patterns,
it requires faster, more sophisticated supercomputing capabilities. HPE’s
supercomputing solutions accelerate weather forecasting across the globe to
provide real-time analysis by delivering significant computational performance
and end-to-end capabilities to model and simulate climate data.
The enhanced supercomputing power will help increase forecast skills through
improved numerical model configurations and advanced data assimilation of
ground-and space-based weather observations in MSS’ numerical weather prediction
system called ‘SINGV’. SINGV was developed by MSS’ Centre for Climate Research
Singapore (CCRS) through collaborations with UK Met Office and partners, and
configured specifically for weather forecasts and climate applications in
Singapore and the nearby region.
Additionally, the supercomputer will enable the use of modern forecast
postprocessing algorithms, using machine learning techniques, to improve the
quality of forecasts. The enhanced computational power will also allow the
further development of the following high-resolution models to deliver improved
weather and climate products:
Sub-kilometer scale urban modeling (uSINGV), which is being developed to
represent the urban environment more appropriately in weather and climate
applications
Coupled ocean-atmosphere-land-wave modeling system (cSINGV) to capture and
improve the understanding of the strong feedbacks between the atmosphere, land
and ocean, which have a significant impact on the weather and climate over the
Southeast Asia region
“Singapore continues to drive its national initiatives with supercomputing
projects that significantly contribute to science, accelerate innovation and
improve a range of areas for the greater good of its citizens,” said Trish
Damkroger, Chief Product Officer and senior vice president, HPC, AI, & Labs at
HPE. “We are honored to play a role in the nation’s digital agenda and be
selected by the Meteorological Service Singapore to build them a powerful system
with advanced, end-to-end supercomputing technologies that will fuel Singapore’s
weather intelligence and speed up predictions of extreme climate events.”
The
MSS, which is part of Singapore’s National Environment Agency (NEA), is
dedicated to providing the nation with timely weather forecasts, insights into
Singapore’s tropical climate, and better understanding of event patterns in
monsoons, heatwaves and air pollution. To advance MSS’ mission, the new
supercomputer, which will be built using the HPE Cray supercomputer to deliver
powerful, end-to-end performance and capabilities, will improve modeling and
simulation of complex weather data to provide more accurate, real-time weather
forecasts and warnings to citizens.
“At CCRS, our scientists and software engineers are committed to developing
advanced modeling systems and examining complex data to provide timely weather
forecasts for our nation, which due to the island’s unique geological
positioning, often experiences various of weather processes on a daily basis,”
said Prof. Dale Barker, Director (CCRS). “After collaborating with Hewlett
Packard Enterprise to design the new supercomputer, our research center will
gain a faster system with next-generation technologies to advance modeling and
simulation tools, while introducing new capabilities to test and apply future
types of applications for deeper research methodologies.”
Singapore boosts national weather and climate intelligence with
next-generation supercomputer
MSS is gaining nearly 2X more performance, with a peak performance 401.4
teraflops, using the following set of new technologies spanning compute,
networking, storage and software:
