Argonne Leadership Computing Facility

The Argonne Leadership Computing Facility (ALCF), a DOE Office of Science User Facility, enables breakthroughs in science and engineering by providing supercomputing resources and expertise to the research community. The higher-resolution simulations, continental-scale study areas, and decades-long periods for future simulations that climate models need to deliver more detailed, location-specific, and actionable projections require more computations and therefore more computing power. ALCF’s supercomputing capabilities enable Argonne’s climate and environmental scientists to run these simulations in a matter of days, weeks, or months, instead of the years — or even decades — that would be required using conventional computers.  Learn more at the ALCF web site.

Argonne Visualization Lab

The Argonne Visualization Laboratory is home to the ActiveMural, a 27-foot by 8-foot interactive tiled display wall, where scientists can collaborate and share scientific data visualizations. Because climate models generate purely numerical outputs, this space provides an opportunity for Argonne’s climate and environmental scientists to visualize — at large scales that take advantage of our high-resolution modeling — how future climate trends and extreme events will unfold at regional scales or zoomed in to hyper-local scales. The large scale of the Visualization Lab’s ActiveMural also enables side-by-side comparisons of dozens of scenarios at one time, providing a way to visually explore subtle difference in modelling outcomes and uncertainties.

Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Facility

Sponsored by DOE’s Office of Science, the mission of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) User Facility is to advance our understanding of cloud, aerosol, precipitation, and radiation processes and provide data to better represent these phenomena in global-scale models. Advances in our scientific understanding of atmospheric phenomena lead to better climate models, which can help to clarify, or reduce uncertainties in, our understanding of future climate. ARM tools that allow users to visualize the atmosphere and variabilities in climate and geography in turn enable our scientists to build next-generation climate models that accelerate our understanding of climate dynamics and enable better understanding of how those will lead to changing impacts on infrastructure and communities in the future. More.

Argonne’s Studio for Augmented Collaboration

Argonne’s Studio for Augmented Collaboration (STAC) addresses the challenges of evaluating infrastructure and systems data from across a wide range of scientific domains by combining multiple technologies — including data warehouses, virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence — to enable more effective collaboration.  Climate scientists and infrastructure engineers, for example, visualize their own systems in very different ways, so evaluating the impacts of a flooding event on a central business district requires creative ways to combine data. Technologies like virtual reality provide the tools needed to combine, evaluate, and visualize these disparate datasets in an immersive, collaborative way.

Analytic Fusion Cell

The Analytic Fusion Cell enables analysts to harness the power of near-real-time data in a collaborative environment. Just as emergency operations centers allow domain experts from diverse fields to work together during natural disasters, the Analytic Fusion Cell enables scientists and engineers at Argonne — and also partners from industry, government, and the community — to interact with climate modeling outcomes in an accessible and collaborative environment. Through the use of geographic information system touchscreens; mounted monitors with weather and news feeds; and a workspace conducive for fast-paced, collaborative analysis, users can explore data, test various courses of action to reduce risks, or respond to climate and extreme weather threats in a simulated environment.