India will unveil its new 18 petaflop supercomputer for weather forecasting institutes later this year

According to Union Earth Sciences Minister Kiren Rijiju, India would reveal its new 18 petaflop supercomputer for weather forecasting agencies later this year. After visiting the ministry's National Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF) in the nearby city of Noida, Rijiju made the statement. Mihir, a 2.8 petaflop supercomputer, is located at the NCMRWF, while Pratyush, a 4.0 petaflop supercomputer, is located at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune.

The ministry has decided that IITM would receive the remaining 10 petaflops of supercomputing capacity, leaving NCMRWF with eight petaflops.

While the NCMRWF deals with medium-range forecasts for a period stretching three to seven days in advance, the Pune-based institute deals with seasonal weather forecasts and so requires more supercomputing capability.

The new high-power computer centre is anticipated to enhance block-level weather predictions, assist weather scientists in providing better resolution forecast ranges, forecast cyclones with more accuracy and lead time, and forecast ocean status, including marine water quality.

'Mihir' and 'Pratyush' were introduced in 2018 and will be shut down once the new supercomputer is announced, according to a senior NCMRWF official.