Data Assimilation toward Big Data and Post-Peta-scale Supercomputing: A Personal Perspective

Takemasa Miyoshi
RIKEN, Japan
Noon August 24 in Room 2155

Abstract:
I will present my personal perspective on the next 10-20 years of data assimilation with the future-generation sensors and post-peta-scale supercomputers, based on our own experience with the 10-petaflops “K computer”. New sensors produce orders of magnitude more data than the current sensors, and faster computers enable orders of magnitude more precise simulations, or “Big Simulations”. Data assimilation deals with the “Big Data” from both new sensors and Big Simulations. We started a “Big Data Assimilation” project, aiming to develop a revolutionary weather forecasting system to refresh 30-minute forecasts at a 100-m resolution every 30 seconds, 120 times more rapid than the typical hourly-updated systems. We also investigated ensemble data assimilation using 10240 ensemble members, largest ever for the global atmosphere. Based on the experience using the K computer, we will discuss the future of data assimilation in the forthcoming Big Data and Big Simulation era.