{"id":667,"date":"2009-06-24T17:08:48","date_gmt":"2009-06-24T21:08:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.easterbrook.ca\/steve\/?p=667"},"modified":"2010-02-16T11:13:16","modified_gmt":"2010-02-16T16:13:16","slug":"getting-the-source-code-for-climate-models","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.easterbrook.ca\/steve\/2009\/06\/getting-the-source-code-for-climate-models\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting the source code for climate models"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>First, we have to be clear what we mean by a climate model. Wikipedia offers a <a title=\"Wikipedia: basic article on types of climate model\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Climate_models\" target=\"_blank\">quick intro to types of climate model<\/a>. For example:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>zero dimension models, essentially just a set of equations for the earth&#8217;s radiation balance<\/li>\n<li>1-dimensional models &#8211; for example where you take latitude into account, as the angle of the sun&#8217;s rays matter)<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Catalog of EMICS produced by the Potsdam folk\" href=\"http:\/\/www.pik-potsdam.de\/emics\/toe_05-06-07.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">EMICS<\/a> &#8211; earth-system models of intermediate complexity<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Wikipedia on Global Climate Models\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Global_climate_model\" target=\"_blank\">GCMs<\/a> &#8211; General Circulation Models (a.k.a Global Climate Models), which model the atmosphere in four dimensions (3D+time), by dividing it into a grid of cubes, and solving the equations of fluid motion for each cube at each time step. While the core of a GCM is usually the atmosphere model, GCMs can be coupled to three dimensional ocean models, or run uncoupled, so that you can have A-GCMs (atmosphere only), and AO-GCMs (atmosphere and ocean). Ocean models are just called ocean models \ud83d\ude42<\/li>\n<li>Earth System Models &#8211; Take a GCM, and couple it to models of other earth system processes: sea ice, land ice, atmospheric chemistry, the carbon cycle, human activities such as energy consumption and economics, and so on.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Current research tends to focus on Earth System Models, but for the last round of the IPCC assessment, AO-GCMs were used to generate most of the forecast runs. Here are the <a title=\"IPCC AR4 chapter 8. See Table 8.1 for the list of models\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ipcc.ch\/pdf\/assessment-report\/ar4\/wg1\/ar4-wg1-chapter8.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">23 AO-GCMs used in the IPCC AR4 assessment<\/a>, with whatever info I could find about availability of each model :<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>BCC-CM1 (<a href=\"http:\/\/bcc.cma.gov.cn\/CSMD\/en\/\">Beijing Climate Center<\/a>, China). The only mention of source code I can find is <a title=\"Documentation for BCC_AGCM 1.0\" href=\"http:\/\/bcc.cma.gov.cn\/CSMD\/Website\/index.php?ChannelID=16&amp;WCHID=13\" target=\"_blank\">a link to an email address<\/a> for the atmosphere model. I&#8217;ll fire off a message <em>(Response: &#8220;it&#8217;s not ready for release yet&#8221;)<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li>BCCR-BCM 2.0 (<a title=\"BCCR main site\" href=\"http:\/\/www.bjerknes.uib.no\/default.asp?lang=2\" target=\"_blank\">Bjerknes Centre<\/a>, Norway). I can&#8217;t find any info about the model in the BCCR website, but I did find a <a title=\"Furevik et al., Description and evaluation of the bergen climate model\" href=\"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1007\/s00382-003-0317-5\" target=\"_blank\">2003 paper<\/a> describing the development of the model.<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"NCAR's pages on the CCSM\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ccsm.ucar.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\">CCSM3<\/a> (<a title=\"NCAR's Climate and Global Dynamics group)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.cgd.ucar.edu\/research\/tools\/\" target=\"_blank\">NCAR<\/a>, USA). <a title=\"CCSM source code and documentation\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ccsm.ucar.edu\/models\/ccsm3.0\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Model source code<\/strong><\/a><strong> is available <\/strong>for download, if you register.<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"CGCM3 model page\" href=\"http:\/\/www.cccma.ec.gc.ca\/models\/cgcm3.shtml\" target=\"_blank\">CGCM3<\/a> (<a title=\"CCCma main page\" href=\"http:\/\/www.cccma.ec.gc.ca\/eng_index.shtml\" target=\"_blank\">Canadian Centre for Climate Modeling and Analysis<\/a>, Canada). Source code not publicly available.<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Model page for CNRM-CM3\" href=\"http:\/\/www.cnrm.meteo.fr\/scenario2004\/references_eng.html\" target=\"_blank\">CNRM-CM3<\/a> (Meteo-France). Not much information on the GCM, but the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nemo-ocean.eu\/\">source code for the NEMO ocean model<\/a> is available if you register.<\/li>\n<li>CSIRO-MK3.0 (<a title=\"CSIRO's climate science division\" href=\"http:\/\/www.csiro.au\/science\/Changing-Climate.html\" target=\"_blank\">Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation<\/a>, Australia). Can&#8217;t find any info about the model at CSIRO&#8217;s website, apart from <a title=\"CSIRO Mk3 Climate System Model documentation (big PDF)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.cmar.csiro.au\/e-print\/open\/gordon_2002a.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">this report<\/a> on the model development. <em>[update: The MK3.0 isn&#8217;t publicly available, but a lower resolution version, the Mk3L is &#8211; see comments below]<\/em><\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Summary of Max Planck Climate models\" href=\"http:\/\/www.mpimet.mpg.de\/en\/wissenschaft\/modelle.html\" target=\"_blank\">ECHAM5\/MPI-OM<\/a> (<a title=\"Max Planck Institute for Meteorology\" href=\"http:\/\/www.mpimet.mpg.de\/en\/home.html\" target=\"_blank\">Max Planck Institute<\/a>, Germany). The <a title=\"Max Planck Climate models distribution\" href=\"http:\/\/www.mpimet.mpg.de\/en\/wissenschaft\/modelle\/model-distribution.html\" target=\"_blank\">source code for the models<\/a> is available if you sign the licence agreement.<\/li>\n<li>ECHO-G (<a title=\"Research at the Meteorological Institute of U Bonn\" href=\"http:\/\/www.meteo.uni-bonn.de\/research.en.html\" target=\"_blank\">University of Bonn<\/a>, Germany and <a title=\"Climate Research Lab at KMA\" href=\"http:\/\/www.metri.re.kr\/metri_home\/english\/Laboratory\/uClimateResL.jsp\" target=\"_blank\">Korea Meteorological Administration<\/a>, Korea). Here&#8217;s a <a title=\"ECHO-G Model Documentation\" href=\"http:\/\/www.mad.zmaw.de\/fileadmin\/extern\/documents\/reports\/ReportNo.18.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">technical report<\/a> describing ECHO-G, but I can&#8217;t find much else.<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Documentation of FGOALS (but mainly in Chinese)\" href=\"http:\/\/www-pcmdi.llnl.gov\/ipcc\/model_documentation\/FGOALS-g1.0.htm\" target=\"_blank\">FGOALS-g1.0<\/a> (<a title=\"LASG main page\" href=\"http:\/\/www.lasg.ac.cn\/english\/\" target=\"_blank\">LASG<\/a>\/Institute of Atmospheric Physics, China). Not sure about availability, as most of the documentation is in Chinese.<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"GFDL model pages\" href=\"http:\/\/nomads.gfdl.noaa.gov\/CM2.X\/\" target=\"_blank\">GFDL-CM2<\/a>.x (<a title=\"GFDL model development pages\" href=\"http:\/\/gfdl.noaa.gov\/model-development\" target=\"_blank\">GFDL<\/a>, USA). <a title=\"AM2 model guide\" href=\"http:\/\/data1.gfdl.noaa.gov\/~arl\/pubrel\/m\/am2\/doc\/quickstart.html\" target=\"_blank\">Source code for AM2.1<\/a> (atmosphere only) is available if you register, as is the <a title=\"Source code for the MOM ocean model\" href=\"http:\/\/data1.gfdl.noaa.gov\/~arl\/pubrel\/o\/mom4p1\/src\/mom4p1\/doc\/mom4_manual.html#source%20code%20and%20data%20sets\" target=\"_blank\">MOM ocean model<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Data and documentation for GISS-AOM\" href=\"http:\/\/aom.giss.nasa.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\">GISS-AOM<\/a>, EH, and ER (<a title=\"NASA GISS page for climate modeling\" href=\"http:\/\/www.giss.nasa.gov\/\">NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies<\/a>, USA). Source code for various configurations of <a title=\"download page for datasets and model code for GISS-AOM\" href=\"http:\/\/aom.giss.nasa.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\">GISS-AOM is available<\/a>. You can also browse the source code for the latest model, <a title=\"General information and documentation for modelE\" href=\"http:\/\/www.giss.nasa.gov\/tools\/modelE\/\" target=\"_blank\">ModelE,<\/a> either <a title=\"modelE code, via f90toHTML\" href=\"http:\/\/www.giss.nasa.gov\/tools\/modelE\/modelEsrc\/\" target=\"_blank\">using the f90toHTML<\/a> tool, or directly in <a title=\"browse the modelE repository\" href=\"http:\/\/simplex.giss.nasa.gov\/cgi-bin\/cvsweb.cgi\/modelE\/?only_with_tag=MAIN\" target=\"_blank\">its repository<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"IPCC's basic info for INM-CM3\" href=\"http:\/\/www-pcmdi.llnl.gov\/ipcc\/model_documentation\/INM_CM3.0.htm\" target=\"_blank\">INM-CM3.0<\/a> (<a title=\"INM, Russia (not a very helpful website)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.inm.ras.ru\/inm_en_ver\/index.htm#main\" target=\"_blank\">Institute for Numerical Mathematics<\/a>, Russia). Can&#8217;t find much about this model at all.<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"IPSL-CM4 main page\" href=\"http:\/\/igcmg.ipsl.jussieu.fr\/Doc\/IPSLCM4\/\" target=\"_blank\">IPSL-CM4<\/a> (Institut Pierre Simon Laplace, France). Here we hit the jackpot:<a title=\"Trac page for IPSL's Climate modeling group\" href=\"http:\/\/forge.ipsl.jussieu.fr\/igcmg\" target=\"_blank\"> <strong>open web access to the subversion repository and Trac database<\/strong><\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>MIROC3.2 (<a title=\"Climate Research at U Tokyo\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ccsr.u-tokyo.ac.jp\/ehtml\/ersindex.shtml\" target=\"_blank\">U Tokyo<\/a> and <a title=\"JAMSTEC main page\" href=\"http:\/\/www.jamstec.go.jp\/e\/\" target=\"_blank\">JAMSTEC<\/a>, Japan). I found <a title=\"MIROC documentation (PDF)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ccsr.u-tokyo.ac.jp\/kyosei\/hasumi\/MIROC\/tech-repo.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">documentation for MIROC<\/a>, but not much else.<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Model information page for IPCC\" href=\"http:\/\/www.mri-jma.go.jp\/Dep\/cl\/cl4\/IPCC-AR4\/model.html\" target=\"_blank\">MRI-CGCM2<\/a> (<a title=\"MRI main page\" href=\"http:\/\/www.mri-jma.go.jp\/Welcome.html\" target=\"_blank\">Meteorological Research Institute<\/a>, Japan). No info about model availability.<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"PCM model page\" href=\"http:\/\/www.cgd.ucar.edu\/pcm\/\" target=\"_blank\">PCM<\/a> (<a title=\"NCAR's climate research division\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ncar.ucar.edu\/research\/climate\/\" target=\"_blank\">NCAR<\/a>, USA). Unlike the CCSM above, the code for PCM doesn&#8217;t appear to be available.<\/li>\n<li>UKMO-<a title=\"HadCM3 on wikipedia\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/HadCM3\" target=\"_blank\">HadCM3<\/a> and <a title=\"Paper on HadGEM1\" href=\"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1175\/JCLI3712.1\" target=\"_blank\">HadGEM1<\/a> (<a title=\"Hadley Centre main pages\" href=\"http:\/\/www.metoffice.gov.uk\/climatechange\/science\/hadleycentre\/\" target=\"_blank\">Met Office Hadley Centre<\/a>, UK). Last, but definitely not least. The Met Office models are built from a shared code base, known as the <a title=\"Unified Model information\" href=\"http:\/\/www.metoffice.gov.uk\/science\/creating\/daysahead\/nwp\/um.html\" target=\"_blank\">Unified Model<\/a>. <a title=\"UM Documentation\" href=\"http:\/\/www.metoffice.gov.uk\/research\/nwp\/publications\/papers\/unified_model\/\" target=\"_blank\">Documentation<\/a> is available, but the source code is only distributed to collaborators under a restricted licence.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Now, if you were paying attention, you&#8217;ll have noticed that that wasn&#8217;t 23 bullet points. Some labs contributed runs from more than one\u00a0version of their\u00a0model(s), so it does add up somehow.<\/p>\n<p>Short summary: easiest source code to access: (1)\u00a0<a title=\"Trac page for IPSL's Climate modeling group\" href=\"http:\/\/forge.ipsl.jussieu.fr\/igcmg\" target=\"_blank\">IPSL<\/a> (includes Trac access!), (2)\u00a0<strong><a title=\"CCSM source code and documentation\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ccsm.ucar.edu\/models\/ccsm3.0\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: normal;\">CCSM<\/span><\/a> <\/strong>and (3)\u00a0<a title=\"General information and documentation for modelE\" href=\"http:\/\/www.giss.nasa.gov\/tools\/modelE\/\" target=\"_blank\">ModelE<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Future work: take a look at the <a title=\"List of models in the CMIP project\" href=\"http:\/\/www-pcmdi.llnl.gov\/projects\/cmip\/Table.php\" target=\"_blank\">additional models<\/a> that took part in the Coupled Model Inter-comparison Project (CMIP-3), and see if any of them are also available.<\/p>\n<p><em>Update: RealClimate has started compiling a <a title=\"RealClimate's list of open datasets\" href=\"http:\/\/www.realclimate.org\/index.php\/data-sources\/\" target=\"_blank\">fuller list of available codes and datasets<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>First, we have to be clear what we mean by a climate model. Wikipedia offers a quick intro to types of climate model. For example: zero dimension models, essentially just a set of equations for the earth&#8217;s radiation balance 1-dimensional models &#8211; for example where you take latitude into account, as the angle of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":392,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,27],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.easterbrook.ca\/steve\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.easterbrook.ca\/steve\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.easterbrook.ca\/steve\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.easterbrook.ca\/steve\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/392"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.easterbrook.ca\/steve\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=667"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"http:\/\/www.easterbrook.ca\/steve\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":674,"href":"http:\/\/www.easterbrook.ca\/steve\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667\/revisions\/674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.easterbrook.ca\/steve\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.easterbrook.ca\/steve\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.easterbrook.ca\/steve\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}