In-situ visualization for the large scale computing initiative milestone

The Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) Large-Scale Computing Initiative (LSCI) milestone required running two parallel simulation codes at scale on the Trinity supercomputer at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) to obtain presentation quality visualization results via in-situ methods. The two simulation codes used were Sandia Parallel Aerosciences Research Code (SPARC) and Nalu, both fluid dynamics codes developed at SNL. The codes were integrated with the ParaView Catalyst in-situ visualization library via the SNL developed Input Output SubSystem (IOSS). The LSCI milestone had a relatively short time-scale for completion of two months. During setup and execution of in-situ visualization for the milestone, there were several challenging issues in the areas of software builds, parallel startup-times, and in the a priori specification of visualizations. This paper will discuss the milestone activities and technical challenges encountered in its completion.