The Virtual Exploration Geophysics Laboratory (VEGL) portal: Harnessing cloud computing for potential-field inversions

Abstract

Geophysical modelling often requires High-Performance Computing (HPC) when applying complex calculations to large datasets. To meet HPC requirements, access to parallel grid computing services via the internet, termed cloud computing, has been established for geophysical inverse modelling using UBC-GIF codes GRAV3D and MAG3D. Portals and workflows have been developed to simplify the inversion modelling process and to allow more efficient access to inversion modelling tools. A mechanism which allows inversion modelling jobs to be submitted to cloud computing resources using a web browser (a geophysical portal) is being developed and tested at the National Computational Infrastructure (NCI) housed at the Australian National University (ANU). This work is the result of a collaborative project between Geoscience Australia, CSIRO and NCI.