High-Performance Computing in Meteorology (Essay Sample)

High-performance computing in Meteorology
High-performance computing (HPC) also referred to as supercomputers are the future in the IT world and are the pinnacle in terms of getting maximum ability and use a computer. For this specific reason, supercomputers are only needed for certain tasks that require this sort of computing power. A supercomputer is the peak of processing capacity and with measurements of speed in nanoseconds it portrays just how super these machines are and the speeds they run at. This paper will look at high-performance computing in meteorology; it’s a very intriguing topic with supercomputers enhancing meteorology in terms of weather forecasting and climate change. Meteorology can be defined simply as the study of the atmosphere that is scientific in nature. It also encompasses observing weather events that occur on the Earth’s atmosphere. The earth’s atmosphere variables include air pressure, water vapour and temperature. It is imperative to study how these variables interact and change over time, these will help the meteorological department in determining how this variable impact weather on the local region or the globe. This paper will critically analyse the current trends on the impact of high-performance computing on meteorology and future developments in the area as well as look back at the history and how it has progressed over time.
The study of meteorology has gained a lot of renewed interest globally in terms of raising the environmental awareness, especially in the aftermath of the tsunami phenomenon. Weather anomalies can have far reaching impact on fields ranging from energy, infrastructure planning, and construction to agriculture. Therefore, there is a need to harness technological integration on meteorology. Meteorological data is not only extremely valuable but also vital in determining what impact it poses on the current or future weather patterns. Modernization through digitalization of meteorological services have improved over time, for instance, the introduction of high-performance computing have enabled the meteorological department to process data in a super speed manner. Given the fact that the use of meteorological data by the meteorologist and the public have been increasing over the years (J. T. Overpeck,2011) . Therefore, it becomes necessary for the need to employ high but efficient computing power such as the introduction of cloud computing.
The historical background of meteorology dates back in 650 B.C through Babylonians prediction of weather changes through analyzing clouds appearance. In around 340 wrote meteorologica was written by a Greek philosopher that details formation of rain, hail, wind, thunder and many more meteorology variables. Western civilization on meteorology took centre stage in the year 1401-1464 by the introduction of hygrometer instrument used to measure air humidity. The invention of the telegraph and the telegraphic networks in the nineteenth century led to the observation of weather from observers to compilers. Crude weather maps and weather patterns were derived from the data collected by these compilers; these resulted in sprouting of weather forecasting stations all across the world. Another great stride was made in meteorology in the year 1920 with radiosonde invention, an instrument that comprises of a variety of weather instruments and a radio transmitter. The instrument produced data that measures temperature and moisture content of the air and transmits it the weather station. These set the ball rolling for computer use in meteorology. For instance, in the year 1963 picture that was transmitted automatically from satellite was launched known as (APT). A camera with a high-resolution was mounted on the polar-orbiting satellite, the camera recorded the meteorological data and was broadcasted to the globe at a very high frequency (VHF). With these accomplishments on weather prediction, pictures on the earth surface and atmosphere the focus now shifted on the incorporation of high-performance computing technology in meteorology. These were witnessed on the successful launch polar-orbiting satellites in 1972 that was designed using high- performance computing model. The model was equipped with land remote sensing that was able to analyze meteorological parameters and relied the same to the meteorological control centre.
Advancement in technology in this century has revolutionized the way meteorology is approached. Though such scientific advancements have not been embraced fully (Ashford 1992). The introduction of outer space observation has changed our perception of the atmosphere; coupled by the introduction of large-scale motion and the observational breakthrough have given out a platform for taking advantage of the HPC. The world was fascinated by creation of the numerical weather prediction model ( Phillips 1951) after the world war two; these set the stage for the advancement of weather forecasting. McIntyre (1988) laments that the ability of human beings to process plays a significant role in weather forecasting compared with the computational model. Though the scientist had predicted that the future human forecasters will take a back seat while technological based weather forecast will take precedence. Doswell 1992 highlighted the importance of integrating data with the models to be used in meteorology.
The current trend that shapes the HPC is the rapid integration of super- computing power coupled with data depositories that are large enough to sufficiently handle a large volume of data. In the meteorological arena there are significant challenges involved in predicting the frequency and outcome of extreme weather patterns, but due to technological advancement of HPC it has made it easy to predict these meteorological variables. The current development of high-performance computing is used in the different field of meteorology, that includes aviation weather, severe weather and tropical weather (Raymond S. Bradley, Philip D. Jones,1992). Through the use of (HPC), meteorologist have managed to predict weather pattern to almost month ahead. Today we have a plethora of computer algorithms that are used to create weather forecast computer models such as Global Forecast Model that can predict the weather up to upwards of fifteen days ahead. Moreover, meteorologist have incorporated the use of upper air observation through the use of weather balloons that is used to measure weather parameters and records them and finally transmits it to the weather station. Furthermore, they have created and employed the use of sea level networks for marine observation. Which are generally used for detecting and issuing warning on the imminent occurrence of a tsunami, tide observation and for monitoring sea level. Numerical weather prediction has also be used, and they utilize mathematical models for predicting weather on the atmosphere and ocean (Pitcher Partners, 2011).
Future development on the use of high- performance computing in meteorology will be shaped by the use polar and geostationary satellites integrated with the state of the art computers fitted with upgraded hardware and advanced meteorological instruments. These satellites will employ the use of high-performance computing that will be used to gather meteorological data and seamlessly transmits the same to the weather forecast control centres. The proposed satellite will be fitted with infrared and microwave sensors that can generate three-dimensional images or information regarding the state of temperature, moisture and pressure of the atmosphere. Since, infrared sensors can easily measure the space whilst the microwave sensors can effortlessly be used to analyze the earth’s surface. During the berlin show, the world had a sneak peek of the second generation satellites to be used for weather f...