French company Eviden, the Atos business leading in advanced computing, has won a $100 million deal with the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecast (NCMRWF), on behalf of the India Ministry of Earth Sciences, to build two new supercomputers dedicated to weather modelling and climate research for Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) and the NCMRWF.
These systems will have a combined power capacity up to 21.3 Petaflops and will rely on Eviden’s patented Direct Liquid Cooling technology to cool the system using warm water.
Located in Noida, the NCMRWF supercomputer will have an 8.3-Petaflop computing capacity for weather and climate modelling, to support advanced numerical weather research across India, says a release from Eviden, an Atos Group business with an annual revenue of €5 billion.
The supercomputer dedicated to the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM, Pune, will provide 13 Petaflops of power for atmosphere and climate research.
Increasing accuracy
M Ravichandran, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, said weather and climate research requires massive computing power. This partnership with Atos Group will augment the current capacity to increase resolutions and accuracy of weather forecasts.
Jean-Philippe Poirault, CEO Big Data and Security, Eviden, Atos Group, highlighted that with a dynamic growth and a high-quality technological ecosystem, India is a key country for the HPC industry, positioning itself as a frontrunner on the market.
The expertise of IITM and NCMRWF combined with the experience of Eviden in delivering the most powerful HPC systems designed for Weather Modelling will provide a unique system ready to tackle the most difficult climate research challenges.