Science agency NIWA has unveiled a new $20m supercomputer for weather and climate modelling with triple the generational power of its predecessor
Science Minister Judith Collins announced the purchase at a data centre north of Auckland, describing the supercomputer as “very impressive” in a post to social media.
Chief executive John Morgan said the research computer was the biggest in the country.
“The new computer will have 2.5 to 3 times more generational power than its predecessor, allowing for higher resolution, more frequent processing and additional AI workloads.”
Housed across two data centres in Auckland, the supercomputer will have the highest security and sustainability credentials.
Morgan said the supercomputer is an investment in New Zealand’s future.
“With our nation increasingly disrupted by extreme weather events, NIWA’s new supercomputer will enable high-resolution weather and climate forecasting 24/7, using data from weather stations all around the world.”
Weather forecasts are not the only thing that will be significantly enhanced by the supercomputer, Morgan said.
“NIWA is the science lead in the international satellite mission (MethaneSAT) detecting global emissions of methane — including those from agricultural sources. But if it’s windy, the methane will be blown away from its source, so we need high-resolution weather models to show us the origin of the methane. That requires huge computational resources.”
He added it would be used to keep Kiwis safe outdoors with weather forecasting provided to the Department of Conservation and FENZ.
“The supercomputer is also capable of tailored expansion to meet the supercomputing requirements of other science institutions — here and throughout the Pacific.”
The $20m supercomputer is the fourth NIWA has bought since initial investment in high performance computing in 1999.
