Pune IITM to soon get 10-PetaFlop supercomputer for weather forecasting
The Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) will acquire a 10-PetaFlop supercomputer to enhance its research and modeling capabilities. The new computer will assist in developing weather models under the Mission Monsoon Phase 3. The Ministry of Earth Science has also ordered additional supercomputers with a combined capacity of 18 PetaFlops. These advancements will allow for more accurate weather forecasting and the study of climate and weather conditions. IITM has also signed partnerships with Tezpur University and Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences to address environmental challenges.
The city-based, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) will soon get a 10-PetaFlop supercomputer, which will strengthen institute’s research and modeling capacity. Currently, the institute has 4 PetaFlop Pratyush supercomputer.
“The new computer will help scientists to run weather models that will be developed under the Mission Monsoon Phase 3,” said Kiren Rijiju, Union Minister, Ministry of Earth Science (MoES).
Rijiju was speaking at IITM on Saturday, during his first visit to the institute after becoming the Union Minister for MoES.
M Ravichandran, secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, and R Krishnan, director, IITM were present on the occasion.
During the visit, the minister witnessed the functioning of the Pratyush supercomputer, cloud stimulation, lightning phenomenon, and other studies which are being carried out in the institute.
He said, “MoES has issued a purchase order for supercomputers. It will have a combined capacity of 18 PetaFlops.”
“Currently, the country’s supercomputers Pratyush and Mihir, with a combined capacity of 6.8 petaflops are housed at the Indian IITM, Pune, and the National Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF), Noida, respectively. They were made operational in 2018. The new supercomputers too will be housed at these institutes,” he said.
“Climatic behaviour is changing very fast and weather conditions are extremely erratic these days. Our science has to catch up with the changing patterns, the more powerful supercomputer will help us to go further deep in terms of our forecast capacity and study of various aspects of climate and weather conditions,” said Ravichandran.
“Our current high-performance computers allow us to map weather and climate changes to a resolution of 12*12 km. With the new system, we can improve resolution to 6*6 km. These supercomputers will be used to compute data related to weather forecasting and running different weather and climate models, said Ravichandran.
During the event, two memorandums of understanding (MOUs) were signed by IITM, Pune and Tezpur University, and Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), Nainital.
The partnerships aim to pool expertise, resources, and research capabilities to address environmental challenges and develop effective solutions.