22-05-2012, 04:32 PM
Earth Simulation on the Earth Simulator
Abstract
The Earth Simulator has given us tremendous gifts both in our lives and research fields. We have been faced with various forms of highly unusual events such as global warming, earthquakes and weather extremes. However, we had never a measure of how to accurately predict what is going to happen in the future. The Earth Simulator has enabled atmospheric ocean scientists to run weather forecast and climate projection with more than 1,000 times increased resolutions compared conventional simulations. The dramatic change in simulation science brings us a lot of information about nature.
The Earth Simulator can trace its history back in 1996.The promotion of research & development for the Earth Simulator has been reported to the Science Technology Agency in Japan as a part of the Global Change Prediction Plan. It was the starting point of the Earth Simulator Project. Since stating of operation of the Earth Simulator in March of 2002, the Earth Simulator is still being one of the most powerful supercomputer in the world.
Five years have passed from the beginning of its operation and the number of users amounts to than about 800 scientists every year. Research activities on the Earth Simulator has become widely not only in Geosciences but also in industrial applications such as designing auto-mobiles, engines and devices, nanotechnology, and material science and so on. Through various simulations performed on the Earth Simulator, interdisciplinary collaborations have been organized for understanding nature with integrated approaches.
In my talk, I will introduce system configuration of the Earth Simulator and its unique characteristics and advantages. Especially, focusing on Geosciences, leading simulation results of weather forecast, projection pf climate change such as global warming and El Nino, and earthquakes will be present. In addition, near future plans on the Earth Simulator will be introduced.