IBM Big Data Manages World’s Largest Climate Data Archive

The German Climate Computing Center is using technology and services from IBM to manage the world’s largest climate simulation data archive, used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and other leading climate researchers worldwide.

The archive currently consists of more than 40 petabytes of data and is projected to grow by roughly 75 petabytes annually over the next five years. As climate simulations are carried out on increasingly powerful supercomputers, massive amounts of data are produced that must be effectively stored and analyzed.

To efficiently manage and provide quick access to this amount of data for analysis and research through its Hierarchical Storage Management system, the Center selected the High Performance Storage System software system developed by IBM and the US Department of Energy.

The data in the archive is used for a range of research and reporting activities, including:

• IPCC research and reporting on the increase in the earth’s temperature and its impact on the climate;
• Simulations to help predict the geographical and environmental impact of oil spills;
• The impact of climate change on West Africa, the Mediterranean, Central Europe, Indonesia and other key global regions to determine how to adapt to it;
• Analysis for airplane traffic routes and altitudes to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide and other gases that may impact climate;
• Developing 3D models and visualizations for creating smarter cities and more energy-efficient buildings;
• High-definition modeling for the formation of clouds and precipitation to improve the accuracy of weather and climate prediction.

Last month IBM said it will invest $3 billion over the next four years to establish a new Internet of Things (IoT) unit, and that it is building a cloud-based open platform designed to help clients and ecosystem partners build IoT systems.