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Provide GFDL Climate Simulation data to the IPCC Data Distribution Center via the NOMADS server
GFDL 2002 second quarter milestone
Purpose:
The NOAA Operational Model Archive and Distribution System (NOMADS) is a grassroots effort to make weather and climate model data available via the Internet. As the Internet has grown, the ability to display and move text-based data has developed to the point where it is quite easy to find and download text from the Internet. NOMADS is part of an effort to extend this ability to model data sets. Allowing users easy assess to model data is a very difficult problem. Users need a wide range of information before they can intelligently find and use the model data. NOMADS seeks to develop and provide the user this information in an easy-to-use manner through web-based software.
Efforts:
Presently the NOMADS software allows a user to locate and download large model data sets with relative ease. The user can easily analyze the data in place, using simple analysis tools such as mapping the model data without moving the data to their local server, increasing the ease of use. GFDL currently provides over 1000 gigabytes (1 gigabyte = 109 bytes) of model data on its local NOMADS server. The data represent model output from a number of important integrations recently conducted at GFDL that have been featured in the latest IPCC report. These include simulations in which used the following forcings: (a) estimates of the historical forcing (1860 to present day), (b) a number of different estimates of the future forcing (present day to 2100) and (c) CO2 increases at 1% per year (for use in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP)).
Customers:
Model data sets on GFDL's NOMADS server have been used by a number of users, including CMIP, the IPCC Data Distribution Center (DDC), the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, the International Arctic Research Center, and a number of other institutions and individual scientists.
Significance:
GFDL has continued to play an important role in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) process. The IPCC strives to provide assessments on the current state of understanding the science of climate change. As part of this effort, the IPCC has established the DDC at the Max Planck Institute in Germany. The purpose of the DDC is to collect climate model data from various modeling centers around the world, and to provide this data to the impacts community. The impacts community then uses that model data as input to their studies. They seek to understand how physical climate changes, as simulated by the models, affect various sectors of the economy when forced by estimated future anthropogenic emissions.
NOMADS provides climate model data to the IPCC and a number of other important customers, both inside and outside of NOAA. Benefits to GFDL and NOAA resulting from this effort include:
- the much greater availability of model data to the community
- a much larger fraction of model data is available to outside users
- many more integrations are available
- substantial reduction in the support requirements to supply model data to outside users. GFDL model data served via NOMADS are becoming an increasingly important product of GFDL and NOAA.
Success:
The NOMADS effort allows users access to model data sets as noted above. The effort necessary to transfer the model data has been greatly reduced, both for the customer and for GFDL. The success of NOMADS is a result of fruitful collaborations between GFDL, NCEP, NCDC and other institutions.
Next Steps:
GFDL will continue to make important model data sets available via NOMADS. In addition, efforts will continue to make the software easier to use, allowing the users ever-easier access to model data.