Austria’s Central Institution for Meteorology and Geodynamics Improves Weather Nowcasting With Cray AI Solutions

SEATTLE, May 06, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global supercomputer leader Cray Inc. (Nasdaq:CRAY) today announced that the Central Institution for Meteorology and Geodynamics in Austria, also known as Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Geodynamik (ZAMG), is using a Cray supercomputer to support a multi-year weather nowcasting project with the University of Vienna to benefit society and industry.

ZAMG is the fourth weather center to select Cray to run advanced machine learning and AI. This project focuses on improving meteorological products including local nowcasts for weather, wind power yield assessments and air quality analysis. Nowcasting means forecasting the weather over short time windows, typically up to two hours. Using deep learning methods, ZAMG is leveraging its Cray^® CS-Storm™ supercomputer to optimize the orientation of wind-powered generators for maximum efficiency and to train neural networks with current and historical weather data.

“ZAMG is adopting new methodologies to advance its suite of meteorological products. By leveraging machine learning, we are able to improve the quality of our nowcasting system,” said Dipl. Ing. Mag. Günther Tschabuschnig, CIO at ZAMG. “With the Cray supercomputer, we cannot make the weather better, but we can predict it much better with a whole new level of service.”

As the state meteorological and geophysical service of Austria, ZAMG provides critical information and advises on efficient use of conventional and alternative resources for the energy sector. The Institution is tasked with providing accurate weather forecasts on a variety of time scales. This is a challenge ZAMG researchers are solving by training neural networks with massive amounts of weather data from measurement stations and weather models from data collected over the years. With the Cray CS-Storm, ZAMG can improve local nowcasts for wind power, air quality and more.

“Many of the world’s leading weather organizations rely on Cray advanced supercomputing technology for their forecasting,” said Ilene Carpenter, earth sciences segment director at Cray. “Our customers’ workloads are becoming increasingly converged as they adopt machine learning and deep learning to augment modeling and simulation. ZAMG’s new Cray CS-Storm system enables scientists to extract value from the organization’s rich, historical weather data and more efficiently train neural networks and deep learning models to improve their nowcasting capabilities.”

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Cray Inc. (Nasdaq:CRAY) combines computation and creativity so visionaries can keep asking questions that challenge the limits of possibility. Drawing on more than 45 years of experience, Cray develops the world’s most advanced supercomputers, pushing the boundaries of performance, efficiency and scalability. Cray continues to innovate today at the convergence of data and discovery, offering a comprehensive portfolio of supercomputers, high-performance storage, data analytics and artificial intelligence solutions.  Go to www.cray.com for more information.

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