Full-waveform inversion on heterogeneous HPC systems. (April 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gokhberg, Alexey; Fichtner, Andreas
• Is Part Of: Computers & geosciences. Volume 89(2016)
• Page Start: 260
• Page End: 268
• Publication Date: 2016-04
• Subjects: Seismic tomography -- Heterogeneous HPC systems -- Wave propagation -- Full-waveform inversion -- Inverse theory -- Spectral-element method; Environmental policy -- Periodicals; 550.5
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cageo.2015.12.013
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0098-3004

Abstract

Abstract: We present a spectral-element implementation of full seismic waveform inversion for large heterogeneous HPC systems. In this we address the optimal parallelisation configurations of individual simulations, the large I/O requirements of adjoint simulations, and the scheduling of large numbers of forward and adjoint solves, typical for realistic inversions. Using GPU accelerators allows us to achieve a 3.5–4 times performance improvement over the best known homogeneous implementation. We achieve GPU memory throughput varying from 60 to 80% of the peak bandwidth, thus providing good utilisation of hardware resources. We demonstrate the practical applicability of our developments in a real-data application in the western Mediterranean. With the help of GPU accelerators, we are able to model and invert seismic wave propagation in a frequency band that is broader than permitted by the use of CPUs alone, which helps bridging the traditional gap between crustal and mantle tomography. Abstract : Highlights: An implementation of full seismic inversion for heterogeneous HPC systems is presented. The solution architecture and key implementation challenges are discussed. Using GPU allows to achieve 3.5–4 times performance improvement. The applicability is demonstrated for a real-data case in the western Mediterranean. Using GPU allows us to model and invert wave propagation in a broader frequency band.