CHEYENNE, Wyo. — A new supercomputer that will provide data for Earth system scientists across the nation is now installed in Cheyenne.
The Derecho was formally inaugurated Friday morning by national and state political, science and academic leaders at the National Center for Atmospheric Research-Wyoming Supercomputing Center at 8120 Veta Drive.
The center opened in 2012 and is a high-performance computing and data archival facility that provides advanced computing services to researchers. In 2021, the NCAR announced that Cheyenne would be the new site for the $35 million system. Derecho will replace the center’s existing supercomputer, which is named after the capital city.
The new 19.87-petaflop system has the theoretical ability to preform 19.87 quadrillion calculations per second. That amount is about 3.5 times the speed of scientific computing preformed by the previous supercomputer, and the equivalent of every person on the planet solving one calculation every second for a month, according to the NCAR-Wyoming. Derecho’s data is being used for 15 Accelerated Scientific Discovery projects by NCAR scientists and universities in the country. It will help them understand more about hurricanes, wildfires and air quality; climate change in the western U.S.; space weather; and long-range forecasts.
Funding for Derecho was provided by Nation Science Foundation, or NSF, which is NCAR’s sponsor. The NWSC is funded by NSF and the state of Wyoming through an appropriation to the University of Wyoming. Additional partners include Cheyenne LEADS, the Wyoming Business Council, Black Hills Energy and UCAR.
In 2021, a competition was held across Wyoming to name the supercomputer. Derecho was submitted by Cael Arbogast, a student at Riverton Middle School in Fremont County School District 25 at the time. The term derives from the Spanish word for “straight ahead” and refers to a very long-lived and damaging thunderstorm, according to the National Weather Service.
Inside the NWSC visitors center on Friday, several speakers — including Gov. Mark Gordon, President of the University Cooperation for Atmospheric Research Antonio Busalacchi and Everette Joseph, director of the NCAR — spoke about how important Derecho will be for scientific research.
Gordon said there are too many unanswered questions about how phenomena such as forest fires and droughts impact surrounding environments.
“These are issues that we don’t have good answers for,” he said during the ceremony. “What can be very helpful with this computer is being able to bring that kind of computing knowledge and research.”
Adding on to Gordon’s comment, Joseph said that such data can help scientists better understand the world we live in. The information gathered can be passed on to lawmakers, who can create environmentally conscious legislation.
“We’re really starting to use the research to answer fundamental questions about the world around us and advance what we call ‘actual science,'” he said during the ceremony. “[We’re] providing decision-makers with actual information to protect local communities with these events that we’re experiencing.”
Busalacchi said the supercomputer’s data is also critical for Wyoming’s economy.
“This type of environmental intelligence is critical to farmers and ranchers, energy producers, shipping companies, in essence every single sector of our economy,” he said during the ceremony.
Following their speeches, the leaders, center staff and guests were escorted to the Derecho computing room for a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The NCAR’s visitor center is open to free walk-ins Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Docent-led tours of the computing rooms and facility are available for those in ninth grade or older. Tours can be booked in advance here.
