HR: 0800h
AN: IN21C-1188 INVITED     [Abstracts]
TI: Challenges in Sharing Climate Model Output in Support of IPCC Assessments
AU: * Taylor, K E
EM: taylor13@llnl.gov
AF: Karl E. Taylor, Lawrence Livermore National Lab P.O. Box 808, L-103, Livermore, CA 94550 United States
AB: In preparation for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report, major climate modeling centers around the world coordinated their efforts to complete simulations that could be used as a basis for prediction of future climate change. A set of standard experiments was agreed upon, including simulations of historical climate change and the climate response to a small set of future emission scenarios. Building on experience with previous "model intercomparison" exercises (e.g., AMIP, CMIP, PMIP, etc.), a set of standard output was collected from each group and opened up for scrutiny by outside climate researchers. Several hundred researchers have now downloaded data from the IPCC archive at PCMDI, and in less than a year, over a hundred research papers, based on this database, have been prepared for publication. The model output archive has grown to over 30 terabytes. The success of this effort rests on a number of developments over recent years, including acceptance of the CF meta-data standard for storage of model output, the distribution of common software for writing CF-conforming output, and the availability of inexpensive portable and permanent data storage devices. The adoption of a common structure, format, and set of metadata for model output has facilitated analysis by outside researchers and broadened the expertise engaged in examining the world's climate model simulations.
DE: 0525 Data management
SC: Earth and Space Science Informatics [IN]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005