18 New PetaFLOP Supercomputers : For Weather Forecasting
India is set to introduce 18 new petaFLOP supercomputers dedicated to weather forecasting, aiming to enhance the accuracy and resolution of weather predictions.
- These state-of-the-art machines will significantly improve forecasting capabilities at the block level, predict cyclones with greater accuracy and lead time, and provide detailed ocean state forecasts.
- FLOPs, or Floating-Point Operations per Second, is a metric used to measure computational performance and efficiency in high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI).
- Floating-point operations involve mathematical calculations with real numbers that have fractional parts.
- Using floating-point encoding, extremely long numbers can be handled relatively easily.
- FLOPs are not the sole metric to evaluate a computer’s performance. Factors like memory bandwidth, latency, and architectural features also contribute.
- However, FLOPs provide a baseline for comparing computational capabilities, particularly in tasks dominated by floating-point calculations.