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supercomputer to run an advancedmeteorological wind modelling system.Environmental Prediction Systems (EPS),which has been developed at UC’s Centrefor Atmospheric Research, interprets globalweather data to run sophisticated threedimensionalmodels of the atmosphere athigh resolution in complex terrain.The data is derived from a broad range ofmeasurement systems such as surfacestations, satellite and balloon soundings,ocean buoys, ships and aircraft.The models, which require significantcomputing power, are capable ofproducing accurate predictions of windspeed and direction to identify sitessuitable for wind farms.The system significantly reduces the costand time delays associated with assessingthe wind resource by minimising theneed for on-site monitoring. It has manyapplications, from prospecting for the bestwind farm sites, to short-term operationalforecasting of wind farm output.The EPS is being commercialised throughan agreement between Canterprise,the University’s commercial arm, andconsulting engineering companyConnell Wagner.The atmospheric models can also be used topredict air pollution dispersion in support ofa major project, Protecting New Zealand’sClean Air, funded by the Foundation forResearch, Science and Technology.Sturman says the supercomputer is playinga significant role in his work.“Internationally, high-powered computingis the fundamental requirement for anyserious modelling of the three-dimensionalproperties of the atmosphere, whether it isfor short or longer term applications.“The high performance computersystem here at Canterbury providesgreatly improved processing speed andsignificantly enhances the quantity andquality of our research output.”BULLET TRAIN FOR IDEASBy Jeanette ColmanThe University of Canterbury is part ofa new super high-speed network thatdelivers data 10,000 times faster than ahousehold broadband connection.In August, the University’s HumanInterface Technology Lab (HIT Lab NZ)became the South Island’s first “point ofpresence” for KAREN — the Kiwi AdvancedResearch and Education Network.Donald Clark, who heads Researchand Education Advanced Network ofNew Zealand, the organisation thatestablished KAREN, describes the networkas a “bullet train for ideas”.“It will carry incredible amounts ofinformation at 10 gigabits a secondbetween researchers within New Zealand,and to the outside world.”Carrying data 20,000 times faster thandial-up internet, KAREN can deliver10Gbytes of data to a researcher’scomputer in just 13 minutes. The same10Gbytes would take 22 hours to transfervia the commercial internet.It is a far cry from UC’s first internetconnection 20 years ago.In 1985, the Computer Centre, as it wasthen known, got a connection from itsPrime 750 computer to PACNET, the PostOffice network.The following year Robert Biddle, aPhD student in the Computer ScienceDepartment, used the PACNET connectionto connect to the University of Waterlooin Canada where he had earlier been astudent. This connection allowed thetransfer of email between Canterbury’sComputer Science Department andWaterloo’s Maths Department andbeyond.“At 10 kilobits a second, PACNET wasabout a million times slower thanKAREN,” says senior programmer TonyDale (Computer Science and SoftwareEngineering).“Because the PACNET connection only ranovernight, we received email and newsjust once a day,” Dale recalls.“There was no World Wide Web back then,but we could email download requests toa server, that would then email us backthe requested file.”Thanks to KAREN, Canterbury researchersnow have the world closer than everbefore.HIT Lab NZ Director Mark Billinghurstsays KAREN makes it possible forresearchers to live locally but do researchon a global scale.“A high-speed network means anycomputer in New Zealand can be at mydesktop and any person in the world canbe at my desk.”Clark estimates that the Government’s$43 million investment in KAREN couldreturn as much as a half a billion dollarsin research value.KAREN will enable New Zealandgeologists and geophysicists to accesssensor data from fault lines in the UnitedStates; permit 3D modellers to collaborateon international mapping projects; andallow students in New Zealand lecturetheatres to participate in interactivevideo lectures with experts anywhere inthe world.Summer 2006 15