ASU Assists Myanmar Relief Efforts With Super Computers

By Jonathan McNamara Arizona State University’s High Performance Computing Initiative under the School of Computing and Infomatics is providing humanitarian organizations with detailed satellite images of the ground conditions in Myanmar in the aftermath Cyclone Nargis. Hyper detailed images of the area clear enough to assess whether roads are blocked...

By Jonathan McNamara

June 12, 2008

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By Jonathan McNamara

Arizona State University’s High Performance Computing Initiative under the School of Computing and Infomatics is providing humanitarian organizations with detailed satellite images of the ground conditions in Myanmar in the aftermath Cyclone Nargis.

Hyper detailed images of the area clear enough to assess whether roads are blocked or not are available on a Web site published by the High Performance Computing Initiative.

According to an article published by ASU News, these images are obtained by using a “three-dimensional geospatial viewer” that allows users to zoom in on specific areas based on satellite imagery provided by the U.S. National Geospatial Intelligence Agenecy. Think Google Earth kicked up a few notches.

For more on this story, see Joe Kullman’s story “Supercomputing experts guide Myanmar relief efforts.”

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