Supporting Large-Scale Seismological Research

Session: Applications and Technologies in Large-Scale Seismic Analysis
Type: Oral
Date: 4/28/2020
Time: 11:00 AM
Room: 120 + 130
Description: 

The National Science Foundation’s Seismological Facility to the Advancement of Geoscience (SAGE), operated by the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS), is the main repository of seismic data used in academic research. The repository currently holds over 600 TiB of data and grows by roughly 80 TiB per year. Nearly 800 TiB of data from the repository were distributed in 2019. Recent trends in the sizes of experimental data sets (large-N and digital acoustic sensing) are expected to dramatically increase the ingestion rate and the volume of data stored in the archive. Additionally, requests for very large data sets for high-performance or high-transaction computing (HPC or HTC) will significantly increase the amount of data distributed each year. These trends challenge IRIS’s existing methods of ingesting, archiving, quality controlling and distributing data. In response, IRIS is in the process of evolving its infrastructure to accommodate the anticipated increase in load on its systems. Potential solutions to the challenges posed by the new data delivery and use patterns that are emerging will be presented and include: hosting the seismological archive in a cloud environment, providing tools for rapid access to large data sets, delivering data in HPC/HTC-friendly formats, providing access to scalable compute resources and other means. The goal is a cost-effective system that delivers data wherever it is needed in an efficient and timely manner to support the geophysical community’s research and educational needs.

Presenting Author: Jerry A. Carter

Authors