OSTIblog Articles in the ASCR Topic

ACME - Perfecting Earth System Models

Earth system modeling as we know it and how it benefits climate change research is about to transform with the newly launched Accelerated Climate Modeling for Energy (ACME) project sponsored by the Earth System Modeling program within the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Biological and Environmental Research.  ACME is an unprecedented collaboration among eight national laboratories, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, four academic institutions, and one private-sector company to develop and apply the most complete, leading-edge climate and earth system models to the most challenging and demanding climate-change issues.  They collectively represent a unique combination of scientific and engineering expertise as well as advanced computing and information technologies required to construct, maintain, and advance an earth system modeling capability that will help us better understand and address climate change.

The core of the ACME project is model development.  This element connects the scientific and energy mission needs with computing power provided by the DOE Office of Science.  The models created will be used to simulate changes in the hydrological cycle, with a specific focus on precipitation and surface water in orographically complex regions such as the western United States and the headwaters of the Amazon.  They will address biogeochemistry by examining how more complete treatments of nutrient cycles affect carbon-climate feedbacks, with a focus on tropical systems;...

Related Topics: Accelerated Climate Modeling for Energy, ACME, Advanced Scientific Computing Research, ASCR, climate change, earth systems modeling, High-performance computing, HPC, In the OSTI Collections, Supercomputers