The Consortium for Advanced Research on Transport of Hydrocarbon in the Environment (CARTHE), in collaboration with the University of Miami Center for Computational Science (CCS), is to acquire a Cray XE6m supercomputer for a CARTHE program studying the surface ocean currents that transport pollutants in real time. Located at the University of Miami’s Rosentiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science (RSMAS), the supercomputer is part of a goal to develop and improve computational tools to accurately predict the fate of hydrocarbons released into the environment during normal and hurricane weather conditions.
‘This supercomputer is more important than ever to our project in light of Hurricane Isaac cutting directly through our on-going experiment in the Gulf of Mexico. Data collected during the hurricane may help shed light on how pollutants behave should an oil spill occur before or during a major weather event like Hurricane Isaac,’ said Tamay Özgökmen, CARTHE director.
Özgökmen added: ‘We have some challenging goals ahead of us as we produce comprehensive modelling hierarchy that provides a four dimensional description of oil/dispersant fate and transport in the Gulf of Mexico and coastal environments across all relevant time and space scales, and in multiple weather conditions. High-performance computing is a critical element of our research and we needed a system that has the performance, usability and demonstrated capabilities that will allow us to start our work now. The Cray XE6m is a great fit for us.’
