NIWA chief executive John Morgan welcomed Science and Innovation Minister Paul Goldsmith’s announcement that New Zealand’s supercomputing capabilities were being upgraded.
“This is one of the most significant investments in science in this country and it will benefit all New Zealanders,” Morgan said.
NIWA today signed an agreement with Seattle-based global supercomputer leader Cray for the new supercomputers on behalf of the partners involved in the NZ eScience Infrastructure (NeSI).
“NIWA is investing $18 million in the new supercomputer capability which will enable our scientists – including the largest team of weather and climate scientists in the country – to provide better information on hugely important issues such as how climate change will affect NZ. The ability of the new supercomputers to process vast amounts of data in very short spaces of time will also enable us to build more precise forecasting tools to help farmers and environmental managers make more informed decisions using the best information available.
“Industries that are weather-sensitive – such as the energy sector, farming, horticulture and tourism – will benefit directly from NIWA’s ability to make more accurate and more specific forecasts. The new supercomputers will also allow NIWA to improve early warnings of the effects of severe events, such as flooding and storm surge,” Morgan said.
The agreement was for three supercomputers that each offered different capabilities.
One of the supercomputers, the Cray XC50 was one of the most powerful supercomputers in the world for scientific calculations. NeSI would use the Cray XC50 and its companion Cray CS400 to provide research services that would enable scientists to do leading-edge research on the environment and climate simulation as well as computational chemistry, engineering, data analytics and biomedical research among other scientific disciplines.
“More accurate forecasts of the natural environment are essential to the future growth and resilience of NZ’s important industries like farming, horticulture and the infrastructure and renewable energy sectors,” Morgan said.
The supercomputers would improve scientists’ ability to forecast the impacts of severe weather such as flooding, storm surge and inundation. They would also be used to model climate change, river flow, ocean levels and wave patterns, to help the country better prepare for the future.
