NOAA upgraded its two supercomputers, Cactus and Dogwood (pictured) // Photo: General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT)
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced an expansion of the capacity of the nation’s Weather and Climate Operational Supercomputing System (WCOSS). The result will be an improvement in NOAA forecast models and additional advances in weather prediction.
The NOAA’s two supercomputers, named Dogwood and Cactus, are located in Manassas, Virginia, and Phoenix, Arizona, respectively. Each supercomputer gained a 20 percent increase in capacity, allowing them to process 29 quadrillion calculations per second.
“Our investment in high-performance computing will pay off with better U.S. weather modeling,” said Michael C. Morgan, Ph.D., assistant secretary of commerce for environmental observation and prediction. “Forecast model upgrades made possible by this increased computing capacity will bring improved and timely forecasts and warnings that better protect life and property.”
Faster supercomputing will allow NOAA to run more complex forecast models while increased storage space will allow the system to process more data at once. This will allow for both improvements to the resolution and refresh rate of current systems, as well as the research and implementation of new features.
“This increased supercomputing power allows for upgrades to specific modeling systems that will help weather forecasters deliver more accurate weather forecasts, watches and warnings and improved certainty in a forecast,” said Ken Graham, director of NOAA’s National Weather Service.
