Scientists use world’s fastest supercomputer to develop tech that can predict future natural disasters: ‘This work is important’

A team of scientists has discovered a way to predict tsunamis using the fastest supercomputer in the world.

This real-time forecasting system could significantly improve the ability to warn people living in coastal communities and earthquake zones.

As the University of California shared, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists published their findings in a paper on the arXiv preprint server. They utilized a National Nuclear Security Administration-developed supercomputer, called El Capitan, to generate physics-based simulations.

These simulations generated data that are useful for predicting tsunami waves in real-time.

The researchers determined they could create predictions in mere seconds during actual tsunami storms.

This research development is significant because it could transform how early warning systems operate and save people’s lives during tsunamis. The technology is fast, accurate, and advanced enough to predict tsunamis based on the impact of earthquakes on the ocean floor.

“This framework represents a paradigm shift in how we think about early warning systems,” said Omar Ghattas, senior author of the study. “For the first time, we can combine real-time sensor data with full-physics modeling and uncertainty quantification — fast enough to make decisions before a tsunami reaches the shore. It opens the door to truly predictive, physics-informed emergency response systems across a range of natural hazards.”

Another co-author, Tzanio Kolev, said, “This work is important because it shows that we can solve an inverse problem of enormous size — not for 10 or 15 variables, but for millions, or even billions of variables, very quickly.”

This discovery complements the work of other scientists working on forecasting technology. There have also been impressive advancements in using AI to simulate hurricanes and software to mitigate the impacts of flooding.

With extreme storms becoming more common and intense worldwide, these are technologies our most innovative minds must work on to protect people and the planet.

As an individual and concerned global citizen, you can help raise public awareness about critical climate issues, such as storm forecasting and the development of technologies to improve it. Talking with people you know about storm preparedness can also help those you love be proactive when extreme storms are approaching.

Even more encouraging is the fact that Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s development has applications beyond just tsunami predictions. Due to the supercomputer’s speed and capabilities, it also has the potential to track everything from wildfires to the movement of contaminants and weather patterns in space.

“Moreover, given real-time data, the online component exactly solves the Bayesian inverse and forecasting problems in 0.2 seconds on a modest GPU system, a ten-billion-fold speedup,” the scientists wrote in their publication.

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