SGER: Feasibility of Taking the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model to Petascale

该项目是一项探索性活动，旨在测试性能建模和优化方面的新专门知识和技术在低层大气数值模拟中的应用。它包括初步工作，以确定未来努力开发千万亿级天气研究预报模式(WRF)的可行性。如果WRF能够适应在大规模计算资源上运行良好，例如即将到来的千万亿级系统，那么研究人员将有可能扩大与大气相关的多尺度物理问题的范围，例如可以用这些模型研究的非常强风暴的快速发展。该项目是2006年春季举办的“Petascale计算与地球科学”研讨会产生的一系列试点项目之一。这些试点活动的目的都与在地球科学的不同部分使用高性能计算建模有关，目的是确定如何使前沿地球科学研究中使用的模拟工具适用于未来几年将部署的超大规模计算系统。这些分析的结果将在2006年秋季举行的题为“Petascale计算与地球科学”的第二次研讨会上讨论。这一SGER项目涉及加州大学圣地亚哥分校(UCSD)专门从事数值应用的详细分析和优化的计算机科学家与参与WRF开发的国家大气研究中心的大气科学家之间的合作。这项工作的影响源于对一种工具的改进，该工具可能对大气科学研究和高影响、可操作的天气预报都有用。

This project is an exploratory activity intended to test the application of new expertise and techniques in performance modeling and optimization to the numerical simulation of the lower atmosphere. It encompasses preliminary work to determine the feasibility of a future effort to develop a petascale version of the Weather Research Forecast model (WRF). If WRF can be adapted to run well on large-scale computational resources, such as forthcoming petascale systems, then it will be possible for researchers to extend the range of multi-scale physical problems associated with the atmosphere, such as the rapid development of very strong storms, that can be studied with these models. The project is one of a series of pilot projects spawned by a workshop on "Petascale Computing and the Geosciences" in Spring 2006. The purpose of these pilot activities, all related to the use of high-performance computational modeling in different parts of the geosciences, is to determine how the simulation tools used in leading-edge geoscience research can be adapted for the very large-scale computing systems that will be deployed in the next few years. The results of these analyses will be discussed at a second workshop on "Petascale Computing and the Geosciences" in Fall 2006. This SGER project involves a collaboration between computer scientists from University of California-San Diego (UCSD), who specialize in the detailed analysis and optimization of numerical applications, and atmospheric scientists from the National Center for Atmospheric Research involved in the development of WRF.Broader impacts of this work stem from the improvement of a tool that is potentially useful for both atmospheric science research and high-impact, operational weather forecasting.