Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has built a new supercomputer for Singapore’s national meteorological agency to advance weather forecasting and tropical climate research for the country and broader Southeast Asia region.
Built using the HPE Cray supercomputer, the new system replaces Meteorological Service Singapore’s (MSS) existing setup, delivering nearly twice as much performance and advanced capabilities across computing, storage, software and networking.
As climate modeling becomes increasingly complex due to new seasonal patterns, it requires faster, more sophisticated supercomputing capabilities. With the new system, MSS is gaining nearly 2X more performance, with a peak performance of 401.4 teraflops. The enhanced power will help increase forecast skills through improved numerical model configurations and advanced data assimilation of ground-and space-based weather observations in MSS’ numerical weather prediction system called ‘SINGV’.
SINGV was developed by the Centre for Climate Research Singapore (CCRS) through collaborations with the UK Met Office and partners, and configured specifically for weather forecasts and climate applications in Singapore and the nearby region.
The supercomputer will enable the use of modern forecast postprocessing algorithms, using machine learning techniques to improve the quality of forecasts. The enhanced computational power will also allow the further development of the following high-resolution models to deliver improved weather and climate products:
- Subkilometer-scale urban modeling (uSINGV), which is being developed to represent the urban environment more appropriately in weather and climate applications.
- Coupled ocean-atmosphere-land-wave modeling system (cSINGV) to capture and improve the understanding of the strong feedbacks between the atmosphere, land and ocean, which have a significant impact on the weather and climate over the Southeast Asia region.
Trish Damkroger, chief product officer and senior vice president, HPC, AI & labs at HPE, said, “Singapore continues to drive its national initiatives with supercomputing projects that significantly contribute to science, accelerate innovation and improve a range of areas for the greater good of its citizens. We are honored to play a role in the nation’s digital agenda and be selected by the Meteorological Service Singapore to build them a powerful system with advanced, end-to-end supercomputing technologies that will fuel Singapore’s weather intelligence and speed up predictions of extreme climate events.”
MSS, which is part of Singapore’s National Environment Agency (NEA), is dedicated to providing the nation with timely weather forecasts, insights into Singapore’s tropical climate and better understanding of event patterns in monsoons, heatwaves and air pollution.
Professor Dale Barker, director, CCRS, said, “At CCRS, our scientists and software engineers are committed to developing advanced modeling systems and examining complex data to provide timely weather forecasts for our nation, which due to the island’s unique geological positioning, often experiences various weather processes on a daily basis. After collaborating with Hewlett Packard Enterprise to design the new supercomputer, our research centre will gain a faster system with next-generation technologies to advance modeling and simulation tools, while introducing new capabilities to test and apply future types of applications for deeper research methodologies.”