e-Science
From weather to climate prediction
Grid for Coupled Ensemble Prediction (GCEP)
Weather forecasts start with observations taken around the world by the National Meteorological Services. Could climate researchers make forecasts a few years ahead in the same way, starting from the current state of the climate?
Policy-makers and many private enterprises would gain immense benefit from knowing the probability of a cold winter or a hot summer, or a run of several unusually dry years.
Traditionally, climate models focus on drivers such as changing greenhouse gases, aerosols and the solar cycle to predict changes on timescales of several decades or longer. The equations for the climate involve the oceans, ice and land surface, as well as the atmosphere. But, could researchers predict shorter-term changes that depend on the current state of the Earth's system?
This is a difficult problem. Modellers need to improve the way data from different components of the Earth system are incorporated into global models. The GCEP project uses grid technology to harness the computing power required to run the Hadley Centre's HadCM3 climate model.
About the programme
- e-Science home
- Background
- Aims and objectives
- Events and announcements
- Awards, facts and figures
- Results and findings
- Management
- Resources
- Contacts
Related links
External links