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CCS: Institutes: CCRI: Background: Computational Sciences at DOE

• Key Science Question
• Thrust of CCS-CCRI
• Challenges
• Resources of CCS
• Next Steps
• Enabling National Science Goals
• Computational Sciences at DOE
• Current Research

Computational Sciences at DOE

A central theme identified by the Office of Science is the key role that computing plays in scientific research in the 21st Century. Major scientific challenges exist in all SC research programs that can be addressed through advances in scientific supercomputing. With today's computers 100 times faster than the computers a decade ago and a continuing exponential trend to future capability, it is possible to dramatically extend the exploration of fundamental processes of nature and advance our ability to predict the behavior of complex natural and engineered systems.

In the course of five decades of research, scientists supported by DOE's science and energy programs have made fundamental advancements in understanding how climate systems will change as a result of increasing atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases, and providing a strong foundation for evaluating new risks to environmental health.

Computational science and the availability of world-class computational resources have made it possible to construct and use comprehensive models of the climate for use in scenario simulations. Current research in this area is based on the premise that a variety of scenarios are plausible for future climate change and the numerical simulation of each different scenario is required for an accurate assessment of human impact on climate. Identifying the complicated feedbacks and synergisms in the climate system is an additional requirement for informed policy decisions. The climate model has become one of the primary tools for controlled experimentation in climate science and the remarkable agreement of model results with historical observations has increased confidence in the use of models for projection of possible future climate states.

The recently announced DOE SciDAC Program has taken as one of its challenges, the acceleration of climate model development. Indeed, one of the strategic goals of DOE is to provide extraordinary tools that are national assets for multidisciplinary research. Providing computational resources for scientific simulations is a recognized role within the DOE with the federal R&D infrastructure. Each year, computational facilities supported by DOE are used by scientists from universities, industries, and federal laboratories. The CCS-CCRI will customize its operation to ensure the success of projects.

DOE's ability to create and manage advanced computational facilities that support national programs addressing scientific grand challenges ensures that the latest computational facility, CCS-CCRI, will be successful.