The U.S. Department of Energy is teaming up with academia to develop the most advanced climate and Earth system computer model yet, and investigate key fundamental science questions, such as the interaction of clouds and climate and the role of secondary organic aerosols.
The project could help address concerns by some that the 55 existing global climate models are inadequate and inconsistent. Accelerated Climate Modeling for Energy, or ACME, is designed to accelerate the development and application of fully coupled, state-of-the-science Earth system models for scientific and energy applications.
“The national laboratories’ high-performance computing capabilities will enable better regional detail, and the addition of ice sheet processes and improved ocean and sea ice components will help to better quantify future sea-level rise,” said Alan Bishop, principal associate director of Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Science, Technology and Engineering directorate.
The project, which includes seven other national laboratories, four academic institutions, and one private-sector company, will focus initially on three climate-change science drivers and corresponding questions to be answered during the project’s initial phase: water cycle, biogeochemistry, and cryosphere systems. Over a planned 10-year span, the project aim is to conduct simulations and modeling on the most sophisticated high-performance computing systems as they become available, 100+ petaflop machines and eventually exascale supercomputers.