News brief:
The National Center for Atmospheric Research has a new state-of-the-art supercomputer at its facility in Cheyenne, Wyo. – one that will enable scientists and data analysts to better predict climate and weather events.
The “Derecho” supercomputer takes up an entire room in a warehouse and can make more than 19 quadrillion calculations every second.
Dr. Everette Joseph, Director of NCAR, said it will enhance our understanding of the Earth’s atmosphere.
“The goal of this project is to reduce uncertainty of the future climate. And it will provide information at the local level where communities are really asking for this information,” he said at a ceremony to introduce the supercomputer.
“Derecho” is 3.5 times faster than the current unit in Cheyenne and also uses energy more efficiently than previous computers. Hundreds of universities and other research institutions have access to it.
Joseph said this increased computational power is especially important as extreme weather caused by global warming becomes more common.
“It will advance knowledge of the Earth system and help make our society more resilient to the unprecedented extreme events that we all know that we're experiencing,” he said. “Just this year, tornadoes, wildfires, floods, droughts [and] solar storms.”
Funding for “Derecho” comes from the National Science Foundation, as well as state partners in Wyoming.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado, and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
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