Japanese supercomputer
helps UH ocean studies

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University of Hawaii scientists are working with the world's most powerful supercomputer to chart currents in the Pacific Ocean that could affect fish movements, climate and perhaps global warming.

The International Pacific Research Center at UH-Manoa met last week with scientists from the Earth Simulator Center and the Frontier Research Center for Global Change from Japan to discuss their joint research projects.

The Earth Simulator in Japan can perform more than 35 trillion calculations per second and is considered the fastest supercomputer in the world.

The Earth Simulator is used to create computer models of the ocean and Earth's climate.

"Models being run on the Earth Simulator are beginning to also change our views of the ocean," said Shang-Ping Xie, a lead scientist with the IPRC and a meteorology professor at UH-Manoa.

For example, Xie said, the new computer models are enabling UH scientists to study deep ocean currents 500 meters below the surface -- a capability that did not exist before the Earth Simulator.

The computer models can track the movement of materials throughout the Pacific and changes in temperature in the ocean.

Xie said other research with the supercomputer is helping track areas where cold and warm water meet and changes in ocean temperatures. That research can help track where fish are likely to be found, he said.

"Up to now we didn't have the observing capability or modeling capability," Xie said.

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