Technology

Puter planet: How do you fit a computer planet inside?

Puter Planet The Energy Exascale Earth System Model

  • Image courtesy Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

The E3SM earth puter planet computer system model is capable of simulating storms with speeds exceeding 150 miles an hour. This simulation image shows how storms can affect sea surface temperatures and influence future hurricanes.

  • It appeared that the Earth was losing water.

Puter Planet computer Ruby Leung (a scientist at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) was baffled by her results.

  • She stated that “we were seeing the sea  levels decreasing at an alarming pace.”

They were only viewing a virtual Earth. They soon realized that the Earth system computer model was flawed. These puter planet BOUNDLESS TECHNOLOGY computer programs are used by scientists to see the future and visualize the past. They must be able to model the Earth’s systems in real life. The model should not be able to simulate the way the real Earth cycles water and never loses it.

This was only one of many problems the team had to solve as they created DOE’s new software, the Energy Exascale Earth System ModelExternal Link (E3SM). They hope to aid scientists in understanding the puter planet computer complex systems and interactions by presenting them in greater detail than ever before.

  • Understanding the Earth in a Continuously Changing World

The Earth has always been changing and will continue to change. Human activities are increasing these changes, and there is consensus that global temperatures are on the rise. Scientists can predict how rising temperatures affect the world but policy-makers and planners must understand what will happen in individual cities and states. Earth system models are a great way to do this.

DOE is interested to understand how energy production can affect Earth’s systems, and vice versa. Rising temperatures can have a negative impact on energy production and consumption. However, energy production can help accelerate climate change. Water shortages can affect the output of hydropower plants or reduce water availability for cooling nuclear reactors.

David Bader, scientist at DOE’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (and E3SM team leader), stated that DOE and its predecessors had always sought to understand the environmental effects of energy production and consumption. We know that climate and the Earth system are not static. It changes. It is important to be able to comprehend the interactions.

Their uniqueness is due to their wide range. While scientists can use a wide range of software programs to simulate natural systems, Earth system models combine them all. These models show how the individual systems, including the atmosphere, soil and ocean, interact. They include many aspects of human activity such as energy production, water management, use, and management of agriculture, as well as other land-use and land-cover changes.

Scientists can use these combinations to understand the future and present interplay of the natural world with human activities. They compare the modeled results with real-life observations to ensure that the model accurately represents the present. People planning bridges and power plants can use predictions that look decades in the future to help them understand how long-term decisions could be affected or affected by these changes.