Computational Infrastructure for the Community Surface Dynamics Modeling System

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The Community Surface Dynamics Modeling System (CSDMS) supports a diverse community of experts who model Earth surface processes. It does so by developing, supporting, and disseminating integrated software modules that predict the movement of fluids, and the flux (production, erosion, transport, and deposition) of sediment and solutes in landscapes and their sedimentary basins. CSDMS provides open-access to numerical models, maintains data for modelers and educational resources on earth science modeling for teachers, provides computing resources for members, offers help in advanced model coupling, and is a platform of discussion for earth science research.This project aims to enhance the CSDMS cyber-infrastructure. The current CSDMS Modeling Framework will be extended for use within a web browser, on a wider variety of computational platforms, and on other high performance computing clusters to ensure robustness and sustainability of the framework. Community-generated models will be converted into ?plug-and-play? components through the development of automated wrapping tools. Methods for quantifying model uncertainty will be adapted. Benchmarking data will be incorporated into the CSDMS modeling framework to support model inter-comparison. Finally, a robust mechanism for ingesting and utilizing semantic mediation databases will also be developed within the Modeling Framework. In addition, six new community initiatives will be pursued: 1) an Earth - ecosystem modeling initiative to capture ecosystem dynamics and ensuing interactions with landscapes, 2) a geodynamics initiative to investigate the interplay among climate, geomorphology, and tectonic processes, 3) an Anthropocene modeling initiative, to incorporate mechanistic models of human influences, 4) a coastal vulnerability modeling initiative, with emphasis on deltas and their multiple threats and stressors, 5) a continental margin modeling initiative, to capture extreme oceanic and atmospheric events generating turbidity currents in the Gulf of Mexico, and 6) a CZO Focus Research Group, to develop compatibility between CSDMS architecture and protocols and Critical Zone Observatory-developed models and data.CSDMS streamlines the computer modeling of myriad societally relevant processes, including melting glaciers, landslides, erosion, wetland evolution, water cycling, flooding, and coastal change. Through its community support mechanisms, CSDMS catalyzes the process of idea generation and hypothesis testing, enabling the rapid creation and application of models tailored to specific settings, scientific problems, and time scales. CSDMS? community approach allows the efficient development of models that are more powerful than could be developed by any single group ? redundancy is reduced, models are better vetted, the capability for innovation is expanded, and energy can be focused towards earth-surface domains that are poorly represented or controversial. CSDMS ensures that models are accessible and transparent by soliciting and publishing model documentation. Staff at the CSDMS Integration Facility convert models into modules that can be easily coupled together; this modularity gives rise to new applications for existing software. This new award will enable CSDMS to enhance its cyber-infrastructure by developing: 1) software products and approaches designed to be accessible, easy to use, and relevant, 2) new community initiatives to advance earth-surface process modeling across many disciplines, and 3) educational products and training workshops aimed at various entry levels.