University awards were recently provided to applicants for the Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing, or SciDAC, program solicitation, from BER's climate modeling programs to support collaborative research that will enhance spatial resolution, physical process representation, validation, and uncertainty quantification of climate models underpinned by high-performance petascale computing. The goal is to actualize and further foster direct collaboration between computational scientists and climate model developers to facilitate advances in climate modeling simulations.

The following projects recently were awarded SciDAC program funding:

Physics and Dynamics Coupling Across Scales in the Next-Generation CESM: Meeting the Challenge of High Resolution
Principal Investigator: Julio T. Bacmeister, National Center for Atmospheric Research

Validation and Quantification of Uncertainty in Coupled Climate Models using Network Analysis
Principal Investigator: Annalisa Bracco, Georgia Institute of Technology

Improving the Representation of Coastal and Estuarine Processes in Earth System Models
Principal Investigator: Frank Bryan, National Center for Atmospheric Research

Understanding Climate Model Biases in Tropical Atlantic and Their Impact on Simulations of Extreme Climate Events
Principal Investigator: Ping Chang, Texas A&M University

High-resolution Model Development to Quantify the Impact of Icebergs on the Stability of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation
Principal Investigator: Alan Condron, University of Massachusetts Amherst

A Flexible Atmospheric Modeling Framework for the CESM
Principal Investigator: David Randall, Colorado State University

Development of Hybrid 3-D Hydrological Modeling for the NCAR Community Earth System Model (CESM)
Principal Investigator: Xubin Zeng, The University of Arizona

Multiscale Simulation of Moist Global Atmospheric Flows
Principal Investigator: Wojciech Grabowski, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

Development of a Wind-Wave Air-Sea Interface Module to Quantify Heat, Mass, and Momentum Transfer in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer in the Community Atmosphere Model/Community Earth System Model Principal Investigator: William Keene, The University of Virginia

Chemistry in CESM-SE: Evaluation, Performance and Optimization
Principal Investigator: Jean-François Lamarque, National Center for Atmospheric Research

Improving CESM Efficiency to Study Variable C:N:P Stoichiometry in the Oceans
Principal Investigator: François Primeau, University of California, Irvine

3-D Radiative Transfer Parameterization Over Mountains/Snow for High-resolution Climate Models: Fast Physics and Computational Applications
Principal Investigator: Kuo-Nan Liou, University of California, Los Angeles

Development of an Isotope-enabled CESM for Testing Abrupt Climate Changes
Principal Investigator: Zhengyu Liu, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Building Improved Optimized Parameter Estimation Algorithms to Improve Methane and Nitrogen Fluxes in a Climate Model
Principal Investigator: Natalie Mahowald, Cornell University

Toward a Unified Representation of Atmospheric Convection in Variable Resolution
Principal Investigator: Robert L. Walko, University of Miami

A Generalized Stability Analysis of the AMOC in Earth System Models: Implications for Decadal Variability and Abrupt Climate Change
Principal Investigator: Alexey Fedorov, Yale University

Improving the Representation of Soluble Iron in Climate Models
Principal Investigator: Carlos Perez Garcia-Pando, Columbia University

Ocean-Atmosphere Interaction from Meso- to Planetary-scale: Mechanisms, Parameterization, and Variability
Principal Investigator: R. Justin Small, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

A Petascale Non-hydrostatic Atmospheric Dynamical Core in the HOMME Framework
Principal Investigator: Henry Tufo, University of Colorado at Boulder

Interactive Photochemistry in Earth System Models to Assess Uncertainty in Ozone and Greenhouse Gases
Principal Investigator: Michael J. Prather, University of California, Irvine

Sensitivity of Atmospheric Parametric Formulations to Regional Mesh Refinement in Global Climate Simulations Using CESM-HOMME
Principal Investigator: Richard B. Neale, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

Toward the Development of a Cold Regions Regional-scale Hydrologic Model
Principal Investigator: Larry Hinzman, University of Alaska Fairbanks/International Arctic Research Center

Evaluating the Climate Sensitivity of Dissipative Subgrid-scale Mixing Processes and Variable Resolution in NCAR's Community Earth System Model
Principal Investigator: Christiane Jablonowski, University of Michigan

Investigating the Role of Biogeochemical Processes in the Northern High Latitudes on Global Climate Feedbacks Using an Efficient Scalable Earth System
Principal Investigator: Atul K. Jain, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Quantifying Climate Feedbacks of the Terrestrial Biosphere Under Thawing Permafrost Conditions in the Arctic
Principal Investigator: Qianlai Zhuang, Purdue University

The Problem of Bias in Defining Uncertainty in Computationally Enabled Strategies for Data-driven Climate Model Development
Principal Investigator: Charles S. Jackson, The University of Texas at Austin

Parameterization Development at High Resolution in Atmospheric Models Utilizing Both Idealized and Realistic Model Configurations
Principal Investigator: Isaac Held, Princeton University

Understanding the Effects of Tides and Eddies on the Ocean Dynamics, Sea Ice Cover and Decadal/Centennial Climate Prediction Using the Regional Arctic Climate Model (RACM)
Principal Investigator: Wieslaw Maslowski, Naval Postgraduate School

Mode and Intermediate Waters in Earth System Models
Principal Investigator: Jorge Sarmiento, Princeton University

Closing the Oceanic Branch of the Hydrological and Carbon Cycles and Sea Level Budget in the Community Earth System Model (CESM)
Principal Investigator: Gokhan Danabasoglu, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

Enhancing Cloud Radiative Processes and Radiation Efficiency in the Advanced Research Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model
Principal Investigator: Michael J. Iacono, Atmospheric and Environmental Research Inc.

About Earth System Modeling

Optimizing emerging high-performance computing and information technologies, the Earth System Modeling (ESM) Program concentrates on advancing coupled climate and Earth system models for climate change projections at global-to-regional spatial scales and temporal scales spanning decadal to centennial. The ESM program focuses on research that improves representations in specific model components to achieve credible high-resolution climate simulations that address the variability and predictability of climate system changes and directly impact societal issues pertaining to future energy use and technology. ESM research and modeling tools directly support the Regional and Global Climate Modeling (RGCM) program.

About Regional and Global Climate Modeling

The Regional and Global Climate Modeling (RGCM) program couples climate and Earth system models, focusing on regional and global climate change projections and temporal scales spanning decadal to centennial, to provide critical details about uncertainty and future variability of Earth's climate system. RGCM sponsors scientific projects that analyze multi-model climate change projections with the goal of quantifying uncertainties and feedbacks in Earth system processes, assessing climate sensitivity and variability, detecting and characterizing climate change (including examining regional contributions and model biases), and producing reliable projections.

In addition, both RGCM and ESM contribute to the Climate Variability and Change element of the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) and coordinate with climate modeling programs sourced at other federal agencies, including, the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).