Prototyping GPU-Based Cloud System for IODP Core Image Database

The Information technology has been adopted by the Earth science to discover the origin of various phenomenons in the Earth from digital images. Employing a vessel equipped with a CT scanner onboard, the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) has been coring sub-seafloor sediment and rock samples. In every cruise, on board measurement produces a large number of X-ray CT digital data that are stored into a data server. Because transferring the digital data takes long time due to the DICOM format, many researchers have been desiring development of brand-new interface. This paper proposes a cloud service that provides interface for visualization of the core samples from remote sites without client terminals with sophisticate functionalities for graphics. The system design and a prototype that emulates the whole system are shown. Finally, using the prototype, an evaluation is performed for validating GPU-based performance acceleration that will act effectively in the cloud service.