Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has built a new supercomputer for the Meteorological Service Singapore (MSS) to advance weather forecasting and tropical climate research for Singapore and the broader Southeast Asia region.
The new supercomputer replaces MSS’ existing system, delivering nearly twice as much performance and advanced capabilities across compute, storage, software and networking.
As climate modelling becomes increasingly complex due to new seasonal patterns, it requires faster, more sophisticated supercomputing capabilities. HPE’s supercomputing solutions accelerate weather forecasting across the globe to provide real-time analysis by delivering significant computational performance and end-to-end capabilities to model and simulate climate data.
The enhanced supercomputing 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 MSS’ Centre for Climate Research Singapore (CCRS) through collaborations with UK Met Office and partners, and configured specifically for weather forecasts and climate applications in Singapore and the nearby region.
Additionally, 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:
Sub-kilometer scale urban modelling (uSINGV), which is being developed to represent the urban environment more appropriately in weather and climate applications
Coupled ocean-atmosphere-land-wave modelling 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
“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,” said Trish Damkroger, Chief Product Officer and senior vice president, HPC, AI, & Labs at HPE. “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.”
The 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. To advance MSS’ mission, the new supercomputer, which will be built using the HPE Cray supercomputer to deliver powerful, end-to-end performance and capabilities, will improve modeling and simulation of complex weather data to provide more accurate, real-time weather forecasts and warnings to citizens.
“At CCRS, our scientists and software engineers are committed to developing advanced modelling 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 of weather processes on a daily basis,” said Prof. Dale Barker, Director (CCRS). “After collaborating with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) to design the new supercomputer, our research center 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.”
