As reported in the last Network Newsletter, the LTER Network has developed a series of collaborations with the National Partnership for Advanced Computational Infrastructure (NPACI), a program of the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC). These collaborations include efforts to develop versions of biological-scale process models that can take advantage of the computational power available at SDSC as well as more general attempts to apply technologies being developed at NPACI to specific LTER problems.
A workshop on biological-scale process modeling was held in San Diego in December 1998. Participants from 16 LTER sites discussed how supercomputer applications could be of use to them and their research programs. A report of this workshop can be found at http://www.sdsc.edu/sdsc-lter/.
A number of follow-up experiments were proposed. The most advanced of these include efforts to create parallel versions of models being developed at the SGS and KBS LTER sites. The Short Grass Steppe models include the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) and the CENTURY model, while the Kellogg model describes regional maize production. A second workshop focusing specifically on these models will be held in San Diego, 9-10 November 1999.
"We are searching for applications for technology that would allow data collected at remote field locations to be transmitted to SDSC via satellite uplink, analyzed and displayed graphically, and transmitted in real-time to interested investigators. We invite LTER scientists to suggest possible applications for this technology."
The goal of collaboration with SDSC is to produce model versions whose use is no longer limited by computational resources.
Funding from the NPACI program is being used to develop a joint project between the LTER Network Office and the University of Kansas. The object of this project is to link information on land use history from LTER sites with climate change predictions from the RAMS model and biodiversity information accessed through software developed at the University of Kansas. The goal is to tease apart the direct effect of land-use change on biodiversity from any indirect effects acting through regional climate change. Lixin Lu, a post-doctoral associate working with the Network Office, is providing the RAMS-CENTURY modeling output for this project.
Tony Fountain, the LTER liaison with SDSC, has been working to develop opportunities for LTER scientists to use mass data storage and visualization capabilities being developed under the NPACI program. A new initiative will take advantage of high-speed network connections and wireless technology to develop prototype systems of data collection and analysis from field sites. For example, we are searching for applications for technology that would allow data collected at remote field locations to be transmitted to San Diego via satellite uplink, analyzed and displayed graphically, and transmitted in real-time to interested investigators. We invite LTER scientists to suggest possible applications for this technology.