NVIDIA GPU-powered AI accelerates mapping and analysis of population distribution around the globe

Summary:

With the Earth’s population at 7 billion and growing, understanding population distribution is essential to meeting societal needs for infrastructure, resources, and vital services. Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) work to create a more complete picture of the Earth’s residents 

Problem:

With 7.4 billion people on the planet to plan for,that’s a lot of data—and a lot of computing capability to process it. 

We were limited by our computing capabilities,” says Budhendra Bhaduri, Director of the Urban Dynamics Institute and Group Leader, Geographic Information Science and Technology (GIST) group. “The old problem was we were drowning in data with not enough computing to extract information. We have now turned the problem on its head— we’re not compute limited, but limited by the ability to have data.”