The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) has extended am existing contract with Raytheon to provide high performance computing (HPC) capabilities. The three-year extension is potentially worth $32 million.
Under the terms of the deal, Raytheon will continue to deliver and support the integrated HPC system consisting of a large-scale computational cluster, an analysis cluster, as well as a hierarchical storage management system, home directory file server, software and services.
The Princeton, N.J.-based GFDL conducts leading-edge research to expand the scientific understanding of many topics, including weather and hurricane forecasts, El Nino prediction, stratospheric ozone depletion, and global warming.
It is specifically charged with “expanding the scientific understanding of the physical, chemical and biological processes that govern the behavior of the atmosphere and oceans as complex fluid systems, with a special focus on the development and utilization of computer simulations.”
“GFDL performs research in support of NOAA’s strategic goals to understand climate variability and change and serve society’s needs for weather information,” said Brian Gross, deputy director, GFDL. “Raytheon has demonstrated its ability to provide us with HPC technologies and support services to enhance our research capabilities for over three years.”