Monster machine calculates the weather

– Photo: NTNU info/Arne Asphjell

There are twenty of them in the world, and one of them has now been put to use at NTNU. This is a monster of a computer with an internal memory of 220 000 megabytes (your PC may have 64 or 128 Mb). Moreover, it does not just have a single processor, but 220 of them. The monster will be used in the comprehensive Norwegian supercomputer project called Notur. Among other things, it will be able to provide more accurate weather forecasts in a much shorter time than before. It can also perform geological calculations for Statoil, which will allow better utilization of oil and gas resources. NTNU is in charge of the national supercomputer agency, which also consists of SINTEF, the Norwegian Meteorological Office, Statoil, Ceetron and the other Norwegian universities.