Weather and ecosystem modeling are advancing rapidly with the advent of high performance computing systems. Research groups are moving from traditional models to scalable models built for systems such as Aspen Systems Beowulf clusters. These systems are used to test the validity of the current understanding of the physics of weather and to develop more detailed, robust weather models. When the systems are sufficiently trustworthy, they are used for operational forecasting by the National Weather Service and to drive air quality assessments for environmental analysts. Using Aspen Systems Beowulf clusters, researchers are able to develop parallel algorithms and methods to execute climate models for operational forecasting.

This discipline includes the following areas of study:

• Climate Modeling
• Global Climate Modeling
• Storm Modeling
• Climate Model Diagnosis & Intercomparison
• Parallel Reservoir Modeling
• Parallel Global Mesoscale Modeling
• Rapid Analysis of Earth Science & Environmental Data
• Global Ocean Circulation
• Ocean Modeling
• Modeling Flow In Permeable Media

Using weather modeling to improve the timeliness and capabilities of predictions is an example of the advantages that can be gained when Beowulf clustering is applied to problems that affect everyday life. Numerical weather prediction models typically run at a low resolution over a large geographic region, due to the limitations of computing resources. Low resolution is often too coarse to capture information on local conditions, such as thunderstorms, wind shears, and land-sea breezes. With the availability of systems like Aspen Systems Beowulf clusters, models are being developed that can produce high-resolution weather predictions for smaller geographical regions, as well as the production of higher resolution images for modeling weather cycles over the entire earth.

Aspen Systems understands the behavior of weather modeling software and the different computational requirements that impact the performance of computing solutions. If your research requires you to use weather and ecosystem modeling software applications such as MM5 (Mesoscale Modeling System), WRF (Weather Research and Forecasting Model) or ARPS (Advanced Regional Prediction System), we have the ability to advise you about what hardware components will work best to support your software requirements.

View a cluster simulation of a typhoon over Japan (MPEG video, 12 seconds, 1.7 MB file)

Please request a Beowulf cluster quote online or contact Aspen Systems sales if you are interested in a custom Beowulf cluster tuned for your specific industry or scientific application.