US Army Corps of Engineers Deploys Complex MathPosted December
13th, 2011 by Linda Bell Today, we’re pleased to have a guest
blog from Lindsey Christensen, Marketing Project Manager at PTC,
which delivers Product Lifecycle Management and design software
solutions. Most people don’t think about the complexity behind
the electricity that’s supplied to their home or work. We flick
a switch. The lights go on or off. Simple, right? Well, not
quite. As covered in the November 7th Forbes article “The High-
Stakes Math Behind the West’s Greatest River”, there’s an
enormous amount of data and complex calculations that go into
meeting that demand for power. Harold Opitz, hydrologist in
charge of the National Weather Service’s Northwest River
Forecast Center, told Forbes, “I can never have too much data.”
That’s because if Opitz doesn’t have enough data, and his
calculations aren’t accurate, it could mean lights-out for
millions of American households. The Northwest River Forecast
Center is one organization in a larger g