The coincidence of two news items yesterday really intrigued me.
First, I saw an update about the National Center for Atmospheric Research’s planned supercomputer. It’s a $530 Million project that was awarded to Cheyenne, Wyoming in January 2007. The project is still planned, but has undergone delays. The feature in Wyoming Business Report assures that the supercomputer is coming, but it may not still be “two to five times larger than any existing computer in the world” as promised when it was announced.
There’s also word that NCAR has named Eric J. Barron, current dean of the Jackson School of Geosciences at the University of Texas in Austin, as their new executive director. The Boulder County Business Report reports that:
“Barron’s expertise will be especially important as NCAR extends its role in the Earth sciences through such undertakings as the creation of an Earth system computer model that will incorporate processes that take place as far away as the Sun.”
It’s great that NCAR will be building their own digital model, and I’m certain that the supercomputer will be critical in this task. I look forward to reporting on developments of both the supercomputer and the Earth system computer model.
