MRI: Acquisition of a Computer Cluster for Space Weather Modeling

Alabama A&M University, Normal AL

Investigators

Abstract

The team will construct a computational physics cluster at Alabama A&M University (AAMU), a historically black land grant institution, to allow leading edge work in solar physics and space weather modeling. The team will build a sixteen-node computer cluster, such that each node includes a pair of 64-bit quad-core processors and Myrinet high-speed interconnect capability. The cluster will also have 9 TeraBytes of mass storage in a Level 5 RAID array connected to a head node, as well as associated support equipment. The principal investigators will include four high-end workstations to perform 2D and 3D visualizations using model output. Members of the AAMU Physics Department are partners of the Center for Integrated Space Weather Modeling (CISM), a National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center headed by Boston University. These personnel are involved in validation activities for integrated space weather models being developed by CISM. Also, two members of the team are young faculty members, as well as specialists in solar physics modeling. The AAMU Physics Department has formed the first research group among HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) institutions to offer advanced degrees in space physics to minority students. The cluster will provide a unique facility for research, allowing the Department to provide advanced training in computational physics and to strengthen its unique space science research program. This high performance computational system will also be used by students and faculty of other research departments at AAMU, such as the Department of Plant and Soil Science, the Department of Chemistry, and the Department of Engineering.