CRAY T3E Guest Investigators

Objective

To prepare the general Earth and space science (ESS) user community for next-generation computing systems and to facilitate the sharing of knowledge among the diverse HPCC user communities.

Approach

Solicit proposals from the general ESS, space flight, and computational aerosciences (CAS) user communities. Distribute 20 percent of the CRAY T3E testbed resources to the ESS and space flight communities and 15 percent of the resources to the CAS community. Provide training in T3E programming and optimization techniques. Provide help desk support.

Accomplishments

The ESS Project released a solicitation to the general ESS and space flight user communities in February to allocate up to 20 percent of the T3E resources. Fifteen proposals were received; 14 proposals received large allocations, and 1 proposal received a small allocation. The ESS Project arranged for a Directorate-funded Cray T3E Applications Programming class to be offered onsite at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in April. The HPCC/CAS Project released a solicitation in February to allocate up to 15 percent of the T3E resources. Seventeen proposals were received; all received large allocations (one withdrew). The Technical Assistance Group (TAG) of the NASA Center for Computational Sciences (NCCS) at GSFC was trained to respond to T3E user help requests. SGI/Cray applications support staff worked closely with at least 10 different proposal groups to aid in their transition onto the platform.

Significance

The ESS Project began preparing the general NASA user community for next-generation computing platforms as current production systems become obsolete and are soon to be replaced. This activity has also enabled members of the general NASA user community to work on scientific problems too large for traditional computing systems. The ESS Project also provided resources to the CAS user community to facilitate an exchange of ideas and techniques among the two groups.

Status/Plans

Additional solicitations for use of the T3E will be issued biannually, in February and August. The CAS Project will continue to allocate 15 percent of the T3E resources through its annual solicitation process. The TAG will continue to provide support for use requests, and the SGI/Cray applications support personnel will work with many proposal teams.

"20 Percent" Awards Categorized by PI/Co-I Institution (April 1997)

In the first selection, announced in April 1997, there were 15 large allocation proposals received. The Allocation Panel awarded 14 large allocations and 1 small allocation. The large allocations, categorized by NASA science program codes, are as follows: Space Flight/M (1), Earth Science/Y (4), Space Science-Astrophysics/SZ (4), Space Science-Space Physics/SS (4), Space Science-Solar System Exploration/SL (1). The 14 Principal Investigators and 11 Co-Investigators are located at 7 universities, 3 NASA Centers, and 1 commercial firm. NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center has four Science Laboratories represented.

Institutions: UT/Austin, VPI, Oregon State, UMD, UAz, GMU, Dartmouth, GSFC (4 labs), ARC, JSC, and Battelle Pacific NW Labs (commercial)

"Aeroscience Community 15 Percent" Awards Categorized by PI/Co-I Institution (May 1997)

In the first selection, through a process run by NASA/Ames Research Center and announced in May 1997, there were 16 allocations made. The 16 Principal Investigators and 1 Co-Investigator are located at 1 university, 3 NASA Centers, and 2 commercial firms.

Institutions: Rice University, ARC, LaRC, LaRC ICASE, LeRC, ASE Technologies, and McDonnell Douglas

Points of Contact

Lisa Hamet Bernard
Goddard Space Flight Center
Lisa.Bernard@gsfc.nasa.gov
301-286-9417

Clark Mobarry
Goddard Space Flight Center
mobarry@maxwell.gsfc.nasa.gov
301-286-2081

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