Conversion of the Lagrangian Particle Dispersion Model (LPDM) Code to C Using Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) Computing

The Lagrangian Particle Dispersion Model LPDM simulates the ensemble average transport of aerosols and gases in turbulent wind conditions, which can have a long execution time for it to be possibly useful to the Warfighter. Previously, some performance improvements were achieved by using two different approaches of graphics processing unit GPU computing technology with one using a Compute Unified Device Architecture CUDA Fortran interface via device code and the other one using CUDA host code only. However, it was determined later that converting the original LPDM code from Fortran to C programming language was needed to further increase its execution performance. This report documents the implementation approach of converting the original LPDM model code to C using GPU computing technology to improve its performance. The execution time of GPU-accelerated LPDM C application was faster than the original LPDM Fortran application without GPU computing.