Case study of SARS-CoV-2 transmission risk assessment in indoor environments using cloud computing resources

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how complex COVID-19 transmission risk simulations in indoor environments can be effectively deployed on cloud computing platforms, providing accessible tools for various institutions to evaluate in-person interaction risks.

Contribution

It introduces a cloud-based deployment framework for complex flow simulations, making high-fidelity transmission risk assessments more accessible and easier to use for diverse end-users.

Findings

Cloud-based HPC resources are viable for rapid deployment.

Performance on Azure compares favorably with TACC Frontera.

Enables personalized indoor transmission risk assessment.

Abstract

Complex flow simulations are conventionally performed on HPC clusters. However, the limited availability of HPC resources and steep learning curve of executing on traditional supercomputer infrastructure has drawn attention towards deploying flow simulation software on the cloud. We showcase how a complex computational framework -- that can evaluate COVID-19 transmission risk in various indoor classroom scenarios -- can be abstracted and deployed on cloud services. The availability of such cloud-based personalized planning tools can enable educational institutions, medical institutions, public sector workers (courthouses, police stations, airports, etc.), and other entities to comprehensively evaluate various in-person interaction scenarios for transmission risk. We deploy the simulation framework on the Azure cloud framework, utilizing the Dendro-kT mesh generation tool and PETSc solvers. The cloud abstraction is provided by RocketML cloud infrastructure. We compare the performance of the cloud machines with state-of-the-art HPC machine TACC Frontera. Our results suggest that cloud-based HPC resources are a viable strategy for a diverse array of end-users to rapidly and efficiently deploy simulation software.