1. UNDERSTANDING CLIMATE CHANGE: A DATA-DRIVEN APPROACH
NSF Expeditions in Computing PI Meeting
May 14-16, 2013
UNDERSTANDING CLIMATE CHANGE:
A DATA-DRIVEN APPROACH
PI: Vipin Kumar Co-PIs: A. Banerjee, S. Chaterjee, A. Choudhary, J. Foley, A. Ganguly, A. Homaifar, J. Knight, S. Shekhar, P. Snyder, N. Samatova, F. Semazzi
Participating Universities: U. of Minnesota, North Carolina A & T State U., North Carolina State U., Northeastern U., Northwestern U.
Vision of Research
A new and transformative data-driven approach that:
Makes use of wealth of observational and simulation data
Advances understanding of climate processes
Informs climate change impacts and adaptation
Research Overview
“The sad truth of climate science is that the most crucial information is the least reliable” (Nature, 2010)
Figure Courtesy: ORNL
Research Highlights
Education/Outreach Activities
Undergraduate and graduate courses and programs at the intersection of climate and data sciences
Cross disciplinary training environment
Extensive research opportunities for students from historically underrepresented groups
Fostering interdisciplinary collaborations by organizing workshops and sessions at climate and computer science venues
Engagement with UNEP and IPCC
Sparse statistical models
Teleconnection discovery
Precipitation extremes
Annual workshop
Ocean eddy monitoring
Hurricane track predictions
Scalable global cloud resolution
Drought detection
Hurricane causal networks
Cyclone intensity estimation
Climate Prediction Community Interface
Research Overview
Climate change is the defining environmental challenge facing our planet, yet there is considerable uncertainty regarding its social and environmental impact This Expeditions project addresses key challenges in the science of climate change by developing methods that take advantage of the wealth of climate and ecosystem data. These innovative approaches help provide an improved understanding of the complex nature of the Earth system and the mechanisms contributing to the adverse consequences of climate change. Methodologies developed as part of this project will be used to gain actionable insights and to inform policymakers.