Microsoft, Army Sign Cooperative Research Agreement for Storm Modeling
Hurricane approaching the U.S. coastline. Elements of this image are furnished by NASA. MikeMareen/istockphoto
By
Mila Jasper
The Army Engineer Research and Development Center will demonstrate the scalability of its storm modeling system in Azure Government cloud.
Army engineers are set to use Microsoft’s Azure Government cloud for a system that models extreme weather around coasts as part of a new agreement.
Under a cooperative research and development agreement, or CRADA, the Army Engineer Research and Design Center will take its coastal storm modeling system known as CSTORM-MS and demonstrate its scalability in Azure, according to a Wednesday announcement. The plan is to increase modeling capacity and improve dissemination of data, according to the announcement.
“This government/industry collaboration is aimed at improving climate modeling and natural disaster resilience planning through the use of predictive analytics-powered, cloud-based tools and Artificial Intelligence (AI) services,” the announcement reads.
ERDC and Microsoft will demonstrate scalability by running its storm suite for the North Atlantic coast at a sea level rise value that hasn’t before been simulated. Other researchers can then use the results of the model and copy the workflow for their own affected coastlines, according to the announcement.
Microsoft and ERDC already completed initial testing in Azure. Last year, ERDC and the Defense Department’s High Performance Modernization Program completed a workload assessment that also included a feasibility study for the CSTORM-MS models, according to the announcement.