India’s fastest and first multi-petaflops (PF) supercomputer Pratyush has been installed at Pune-based Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) to help predict weather patterns more accurately.
Pratyush – Sun
The supercomputer, christened as Pratyush that means the Sun, is the High Performance Computing (HPC) facility for improving weather and climate forecasts and services under the umbrella of the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES).
Dr Harsh Vardhan, the Union Minister of Earth Sciences (MoES), has dedicated this facility to the nation in Pune on January 8, 2018.
This facility is part of Ministry’s continuous endeavor to provide world class forecast services to the citizens of India through upgrading various operational and research activities and the needed infrastructure.
According to a statement by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM):
Pratyush is the fourth fastest supercomputer in the world dedicated for weather and climate research, and follows machines in Japan, USA and the United Kingdom. It will also move an Indian supercomputer from the 300s to the 30s in the Top500 list, a respected international tracker of the world’s fastest supercomputers.
Pratyush- HPC Facility
- Improved weather forecasts at block level over India which can predict extreme weather events.
- High resolution seasonal / extended range forecasts of active / break spells of Monsoon.
- Very high resolution coupled models for prediction of cyclones with more accuracy and lead time.
- Improved Ocean state forecasts including marine water quality forecasts at very high resolution.
- Tsunami forecasts with greater lead time.
- Air quality forecasts for different smart cities.
- Climate projections at very high resolution.
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