Environmental e-Science in the UK

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Environmental e-Science in the UK

• Keith Haines
• BMT Marine Informatics Chair Reading University
• Expertise Ocean/Atmosphere Data Assimilation
• Reading e-Science Centre
• www.resc.rdg.ac.uk

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NERCs Scientific Strategy
Science Priorities Earths life-support systems
(water, biogeochemical cycles, biodiversity,
carbon cycle) Climate Change (prediction,
mitigation, quantifying the carbon cycle,
atmospheric composition, ocean circulation, ice
caps) Sustainable economies (sustainable
solutions for - energy, land use, climate change,
hazard mitigation, agriculture)

• e-Science is Multidisciplinary
• Promotes Collaborative Research Methods
• University Research (including Computer Science)
• NERC Research Institutes British Antarctic
  Survey, Proudman Ocean Lab
• UK Met Office and Hadley Centre, Environment
  Agency...

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Applications Projects
Comp./ Data
Projects
Rounds
Round 3
1 2
Comp
Climateprediction.net
434k
284k
Grid for Ocean Diagnostics, Interactive
Data
858k
Visualisation and Analysis (GODIVA)
Environment from the molecular level (e-
Comp
1,679k
1,336k
Minerals)
Grid ENabled Integrated Earth systems
Comp
1,483k
1,130k
model (GENIE)
Data
The NERC DataGrid
826k
722k
Grid for Coupled Ensemble Prediction
723k
Comp
Studies (GCEPS)
Comp
Global coastal ocean modelling
736k
Data
Creating a taxonomic e-Science
533k
5,280k
5,464k
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NERCs e-Science programme

• 2 Centres of e-Science expertise
• 8 Collaborative Application projects
• e-Science Coordinator Ned Garnett
• Nedg_at_nerc.ac.uk

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National Institute for Environmental e-Science

• Focus on promotion and supports the use of
  e-science and grid technologies within the UK
  environmental science community.
• Holds workshops, courses, training events,
  visitor programmes, demonstration projects.
• Also attendance from non governmentagencies and
  private sector.
• To date has run 38 events with over 1,800
  attendees.
• Recent delegation from China

Martin Dove martin_at_esc.cam.ac.uk www.niees.ac.uk
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Reading e-Science Centre

• Regional Centre of Excellence in e-Science
• Building on Readings Environmental connections
• Met Office, ECMWF, Environment Agency, ESA
• Companies BMT, Vita Nuova, Barrodale Computing
  Services
• Contributing to e-Science Middleware
• Styx Grid Services
• CoLinux for Campus Grids
• Ongoing Projects include
• Web Services for National Centre for Ocean
  Forecasting Products
• www.ncof.gov.uk
• Search and Rescue at SEA (Decision Support Tool)
• Geospatial Database Technology (4D Gridded data
  in databases)
• Climate Data Analysis Toolbox (CDAT) development
• Enabling technology demostrators

Jon Blower jdb_at_mail.nerc-essc.ac.uk www.resc.rdg.
ac.uk
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5 COMPUTATIONAL GRID PROJECTSEnsemble Climate
Modelling
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• Distributed Global Collaborations
• Hadley climate model cut down to run on single PC
  (cf. Seti_at_home)
• 105,000 people from 150 countries have donated
  10,000 years of computing time to undertake
  climate change experiments.
• China gt384 participants

www.climateprediction.net
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• Over 2,500 simulations over a 45 year period
  showed a possible temperature increase of 2 -
  11C by 2050.

• Results from 2,579 15 year runs by
  climateprediction.net
• Results from 127 30 year runs of the Hadley
  model on the Met Office supercomputer

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Regional Behaviour European Rain and Snowfall
Unpublished analysis from climateprediction.net
Mediterranean Basin
Northern Europe
Winter
Winter
Summer
Summer
Annual
Annual
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GENIE

• Grid-Enabled Integrated Earth System model
• Build fast Earth System model with distributed
  components
• Study long-term climate change and palaeoclimate
• Components for atmosphere, ocean, land,
• ice, ocean/land biogeochemistry, ocean sediments
• Explore model parameter space and forcings
• Novel techniques for model framework,
  integration, data management, visualization

Response of Atlantic circulation to freshwater
forcing
www.genie.ac.uk
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GENIE Computing Resources
National Grid Service (GT2)
Institutional Resources (GT2)
www.genie.ac.uk
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Grid for Coupled Ensemble Prediction (GCEP)

• Full Hadley Climate models run on PC Clusters
  (not HPC)
• Initial condition (Ocean, Ice, Land) Ensemble
  prediction 10yrs
• gtAssimilationlt
• eg. Initialised ensemble forecasts of global mean
  temperature

• Other useful
• predictions
• Thermohaline strength
• Poleward Ht. transport
• Sea Ice extent
• Nino3, NAO
• Precipitation
• Snow Cover
• Storm Statistics.

Hadley Centre Results
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Global Coastal Ocean Modelling (GCOM)

• Coastal seas are 7 of the ocean surface area but
  contribute 30 of biological production.
• Develop model for the coastal seas to improve the
  understanding of their contribution to the global
  carbon budget.
• Integrate into larger Earth System models.

Red depth lt 1000m
www.pol.ac.uk/gcom
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e-Minerals

• Model atomic processes involved in environmental
  issues (radioactive waste disposal, pollution,
  weathering).
• Collaboration with British Nuclear Fuels studying
  resistance of materials to radioactive decay
  events.
• High level briefings given to
• Foundation of Science Technologywhich briefs
  MPs and Lords
• World Technology Leaders Conferencein Seoul
• Science and Technology in Society forumin Kyoto
  in September 2005

Simulation of radiation damage in the mineral
zircon.
www.eminerals.org
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3 DATA GRID PROJECTSEnvironmental Data Services
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GODIVA Data Portal

• Grid for Ocean Diagnostics, Interactive
  Visualisation and Analysis
• Daily Met Office Marine Forecasts and gridded
  research datasets
• National Centre for Ocean Forecasting
• 3Tb climate model datastore via Web Services
• Interactive Visualisations inc. Movies
• 30 accesses a day worldwide
• Other GODIVA software produces 3D/4D
  Visualisations reading data remotely via Web
  Services

Online Movies
www.nerc-essc.ac.uk/godiva
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GODIVA Visualisations

• Unstructured Meshes
• Grid Rotation/Interpolation
• GeoSpatial Databases v. Files
• (Postgres, IBM, Oracle)
• Perspective 3D Visualisation
• Google maps viewer

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Spin-OffsDecision Support Tools and Live Data

• BMTs Search and Rescue at Sea decision tool
  linked to Met Office data with GODIVA Web
  Services
• Demonstration for
• UK CoastGuard
• New 2.2m DEWS project Extend Marine and Health
  applications of Met data

BMTs SARIS system
BMTs OSIS system
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Spin-OffsStyx Grid Services

• Easy-to-use, lightweight middleware for e-Science
• 5-minute installation
• Expose existing executables as services
• Run them from the command line exactly as if they
  were local programs
• Create workflows with simple shell scripts (above
  right)
• Perform computational steering and collaborative
  visualization (below right)
• http//jstyx.sf.net

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NERC Data Grid

• The DataGrid focuses on federation of NERC Data
  Centres
• Grid for data discovery, delivery and use across
  sites
• Data can be stored in many different ways (flat
  files, databases)
• Strong focus on Metadata and Ontologies
• Clear separation between discovery and use of
  data.
• Prototype focussing on Atmospheric and
  Oceanographic data

www.ndg.nerc.ac.uk
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Creating a Taxonomic e-Science

• Literature scattered over 250 years of paper
  publications.
• Data inaccessible other than to specialist users
• Aim to transfer in toto the taxonomy of two
  groups of organisms to the web (Hawkmoths and
  Aroids).
• Broad aim to encourage migration of taxonomy to
  the web.
• Provide data for those studying biodiversity.
• Encourage quality control, peer-review and the
  development of consensus taxonomies in the web
  environment.
• Develop means of citation for web-based revisions

The Hawkmoth Sphinx caligineus sinicus from
Beijing, China. Photo Tony Pittaway
Arisaema candidissimum Photo RBG Kew
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Environmental e-Science needs

• Geospatial Data Grids
• Large data (Tb Model output Pb Satellite)
• Good Geospatial tools (GIS) and standards for
  extension to 4D atmosphere/ocean data
• Advanced remote visualisation (movies
  perspective 3D)
• Computational Grids
• Ensemble modelling increasingly important
  (Climate/Earth system) gt HPC not critical
  distributed resources OK (large data volumes)
• Statistical prediction tools (averaging over
  atmospheric chaos)
• Legacy model codes need to run multi-platform
• Distributed Data/Modelling Expertise
• Taxonomy
• Earth System modelling (Atmos. Ocean, Land, Ice,
  Biology, Chemistry)

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Summary

• NERC e-Science projects are application-oriented
  i.e. close to end users
• Good opportunities to engage Government Agencies
  and Commercial Community
• Live Environmental Data
• Extreme event warnings Disaster management tools
  (eg. oil spills)
• Commercial Decision Support tools Tailored
  products and services
• Software companies for databases and GIS
• Environmental Middleware/Software tools Globally
  Applicable
• International Collaborations, (eg. GIS, Metadata
  Standards,)
• Met Office ECMWF Environment Agency, Maritime
  Companies Seasonal Forecasting, ESA..