Parallel processing and numerical weather prediction

The authors discuss meteorologists processing needs for numerical weather prediction and global climate modelling. The Unified Model has been developed and this should require maintenance and development effort than two models. The authors discuss the real time constraints and the desire for a machine capable of sustaining 1 TFLOPS of processing power. They look at historical trends in computing power and future technological trends. The possibility of achieving 1 TFLOPS in the latter part of the 1990s is noted.