Always the Japan faces natural disasters, given its particular location along an area where different tectonic plates meet. Torrential rains, floods, tsunamis, typhoons and earthquakes are a terrible sample for the land of the rising sun and its inhabitants. And climate change has certainly not helped to improve the situation.
Starting today, advanced supercomputer technology will give Japan the ability to predict rainfall, landslides and floods 6 to 12 hours in advance.
PRIMEHPC, the anti-disaster "seer".
The new supercomputer system just announced will be installed at the Fujitsu data center, will be used by Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) to predict the occurrence of linear rainbands. These are clouds capable of triggering heavy rains, leading to natural disasters such as landslides and floods.
The anti-disaster system is called "Fujitsu Supercomputer PRIMEHPC FX1000", and features the A64FX CPU, co-developed with RIKEN, which ensures high performance and reliability. How much? Very, very much. It's the same hardware as Fugaku, the world's most powerful supercomputer, which entered service in Japan in March 2021.
How is the Fujitsu supercomputer made?
In summary, PRIMEHPC FX1000 combines formidable speed and calculation capacity. Its 24 racks can make it reach a peak of theoretical performance about 31,1 petaflops. Additionally, the storage system comprises a total capacity of 42,3 petabytes. Impressive numbers, which translate into the ability to provide more accurate and faster forecasts, allowing authorities to improve preparedness for heavy rain events and offer advance warnings in case of disasters.
But that's just the beginning.
Fujitsu plans to support further activities of the Japan Meteorological Agency, becoming the center for the collection of climate data from all kinds of sources.
This will make it more and more prepared to face natural disasters, improving the security of the whole country. Good luck, champ.
