Case Study: U.S. National Science Foundation National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF NCAR) achieves improved wildfire forecasting and preparedness with Altair PBS Professional

NSF NCAR's "Derecho" Supercomputer Forecasts Fire-Sparking Weather

U.S. National Science Foundation National Center is a world-class atmospheric and Earth-systems research center that runs the HPE Cray EX “Derecho” supercomputer to support climate and weather science. Facing more frequent, intense heat waves and worsening wildfire risk, the center needed efficient workload management to run large, complex climate and fire-prediction models; it chose Altair and its Altair PBS Professional workload manager to meet that need.

Altair deployed Altair PBS Professional to orchestrate simulations on NSF NCAR’s 19.87‑petaflops Derecho system, improving productivity, utilization, and administration of HPC resources. The resulting forecasts show a steady increase in fires across the western U.S. and longer peak fire seasons, enabling better planning and mitigation; collectively, Altair‑powered modeling helps protect land, lives, ecosystems, and saves millions of dollars annually.

U.S. National Science Foundation National Center