Syllabus

Overview

Teaching: min
Exercises: min

Questions

• How will this class work?

Objectives

• To define how this online class will operate and make sure that all learners know how to access and operate the required technology

CLIM 670 Earth System Modeling

Instructor

Prof. Cristiana Stan

Dept. Atmospheric, Oceanic and Earth Sciences

Email: cstan at gmu dot edu

Meeting Days/Times

Monday @ 10:30-13:10, 139 Innovation Hall

The class period is divided into two parts: 10:30 to 11:40 and Noon to 1:10. Each part will start promptly.

Prerequisites

• Computer programming course or experience in any language

Materials

• Your computer (a tablet will not be sufficient)
• Access to Blackboard. Need help with Blackboard?
• GMU Computer Account [we will take care of this together during the first week of class]. You can also visit the Office of Research Computing (ORC) website and click on “ORC Account Request Form”.
• NCAR Computer Account [we will take care of this together during the first week of class]
• There is no required book for this course.

Best ways to contact me

1. Blackboard Discussion Forum: For general questions, problems, etc. addressed to the other students as well as instructors.
2. Email: For questions directed only to the instructor. I typically respond to emails within 24hrs during the work week and on Mon morning for emails that arrive over the weekend. If you have not heard a response by this time, then I may not have received your email, so please re-send.
3. Office Hours: Please email me if you wish to meet individually and we will schedule a time to meet in person or via Blackboard Collaborate Ultra.

Class Attendance

This is a face-to-face course. It is in your best interest to attend class during the scheduled class time - please don’t be late.

Live Coding: One of the reasons you should attend class in person is that this class will utilize a methodology called “Live Coding”. This means you will follow along with me while I share and write code on the screen and explain the code as I go. There will be no powerpoint presentations. This method is shown to be effective because it slows down the pace so everyone can keep up, forces me to take the time to explain what I am doing, helps you get accustomed to running codes yourself on your computer setup, and lets you see me make mistakes and how to correct them.

If you miss class

I understand, however that there can be various reasons for missing class and that connectivity issues do occur. If you miss class for whatever reason, all the information will be available to you on the course Blackboard site, including:

• Class materials, including hands-on activities, which are publicly available via Github (link will be provided in Blackboard).
• All assignments will be posted to Blackboard.

Presentations

In some class periods, you may be assigned to give a short presentation. These presentations will be part of your grade and you are expected to be in class at the designated class time for your presentation. You must notify me before the end of the class period you are scheduled to present if there is a connectivity issue that prevented you from presenting that day.

Duplication with CLIM680

There is some duplication in the beginning of this course with CLIM 680 to make sure that all students are comfortable with required Unix and programming skills. These knowledge and skills vary widely among students, are critical, and are not typically directly taught, thus the need for duplication. The class periods that are duplicate are indicated in the course schedule. Students who are in CLIM 680 may skip any duplicate lessons, but are encouraged to attend as helpers to assist other students with this material. Helping others will help you to cement your knowledge.

Continuity Plans

Given the current times, there are constant changes and new guidance regarding University operations. There is also the possibility that a student, instructor, or family member that they care for may become ill and alternate arragements will need to be made.

We will follow all University guidance. Please monitor your Mason email for the latest guidance. Typically I learn official University guidance at the same time as you. I will promptly follow up with you via email about how any new guidance impacts this class.

In the event that you as a student are unable to continue with the course, please notify me immediately so that we can discuss your options. In the event that I as the Instructor am unable to continue teaching this course, it will continue as planned with a backup instructor.

How will you be graded?

Your grade will consist of 50% homework assignments and 50% your final project and calculated as follows:

• Homework Assignments: 50%
• Final Project: 50% (25% written paper; 25% presentation)

Assignments

There will be 5 graded assignments throughout the course that require you to perform and/or analyze model experiments.
Assignments will be submitted to Blackboard unless otherwise specified. Assignments will be graded as satisfactory (A), not satisfactory (C), or not/minimally attempted (F) promptly after the due date. Feedback will be provided via Blackboard.

If the assignment is graded not satisfactory or not attempted, you may redo the assignment until it is satisfactory until the last day of class (May 1). You must notify me if you wish me to re-grade a re-submitted assignment. It is your responsibility to complete all assignments by the last day of class.

Final Project

You are also expected to complete a project with a written paper and give a presentation in class of your project. Project details will be provided in class and posted on Blackboard.

Exams

This class has no exams.

University Policies

Academic integrity

It is expected that students adhere to the George Mason University Honor Code as it relates to integrity regarding coursework and grades. The Honor Code reads as follows: To promote a stronger sense of mutual responsibility, respect, trust, and fairness among all members of the George Mason University community and with the desire for greater academic and personal achievement, we, the student members of the University Community have set forth this: Student members of the George Mason University community pledge not to cheat, plagiarize, steal and/or lie in matters related to academic work. More information about the Honor Code, including definitions of cheating, lying, and plagiarism, can be found at the Office of Academic Integrity website at (http://oai.gmu.edu). In this class, working together is strongly encouraged and doing so is not a violation of the Honor Code. Each student must complete their own model runs, their own analysis codes and figures, and their own writeup of the assignment.

Disability accomodations

Disability Services at George Mason University is committed to providing equitable access to learning opportunities for all students by upholding the laws that ensure equal treatment of people with disabilities. If you are seeking accommodations for this class, please first visit Disability Services for detailed information about the Disability Services registration process. Then please discuss your approved accommodations with me. Disability Services is located in Student Union Building I (SUB I), Suite 2500. Email: ods@gmu.edu | Phone: (703) 993-2474

Sexual Harassment, Sexual Misconduct, and Interpersonal Violence

As a faculty member and designated Responsible Employee, I am required to report all disclosures of sexual assault, interpersonal violence, and stalking to Mason’s Title IX Coordinator per university policy 1412. If you wish to speak with someone confidentially, please contact the Student Support and Advocacy Center (703-380-1434) or Counseling and Psychological Services (703-993-2380). You may also seek assistance from Mason’s Title IX Coordinator (703-993-8730; titleix@gmu.edu).

Diversity and Inclusion

Diversity and inclusion mean much more than do not harrass. They mean creating an environment where diverse viewpoints and perpsectives are welcome and everyone feels they are part of the team. This class aims to be an intentionally inclusive community that promotes and maintains an equitable and just work and learning environment. We welcome and value individuals and their differences including race, economic status, gender expression and identity, sex, sexual orientation, ethnicity, national origin, first language, religion, age, and disability.

Mason Non-Discrimination Policy

Mason Diversity Statement

The following kinds of behaviors are encouraged to foster an inclusive environment:

• Use welcoming and inclusive language
• Be respectful of different viewpoints and experiences
• Gracefully accept constructive criticism
• Focus on what is best for the community
• Show courtesy and respect towards other community members
• Be Kind

Netiquitte

An important component of inclusivity is to be aware of how our communication impacts others. Electronic communications require additional care to avoid misinterpretation. The following behaviors are encouraged for online communications:

• Avoid vague words, jargons, and sarcasm.
• Limit or eliminate the use of exclamation points, bolding, capital letters, and emoticons.
• Change subject lines of email chains regularly.
• Plan carefully who to CC on messages.
• Edit meticulously.

Religious Holidays

It your responsibility to notify me within the first two weeks of the semester of any religious holidays in which you will be absent or unavailable due to religious observances.

Privacy

Student privacy is governed by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and is an essential aspect of any course. Students must use their MasonLive email account to receive important University information, including communications related to this class. I will not respond to messages sent from or send messages to a non-Mason email address. As a reminder this class will be recorded.

Student Support Services

A complete list of student support services

Keep Learning, Learning Services

University Libraries

Writing Center

Counseling and Psychological Services

Course Feedback

Feedback will be regularly requested at the end of each class period and provide information to adapt the course throughout the semester for this specific class. Additionally, a post course survey will provided to get your overall feedback on the course separate from standard course evaluations which do not provide sufficient useful information for improving the course. Please help to develop this course by providing feedback so that the course can improve and adapt.

Key Points

• Experience with a programming language is required for this class

• This class meets in person

• This class will request feedback often

Overview Earth System Modeling

Overview

Teaching: min
Exercises: min

Questions

• What topics will be covered in this course?

• What is an Earth System Model?

• What types of science questions can I answer with an Earth System Model?

Objectives

• Introduce the concept of Earth System Models

• Begin thinking about types of experiments and skills we need to use them

What is a Model?

• Representation of a system or object
• Examples: Models of a building
  • Small scale physical model
  • Blueprint
  • Simulation of how the building will react during an Earthquake These depend on uncertain inputs and the prediction of how the building will look, function, or cost are predictions.

What is a Climate/Earth System Model?

• A computer program of equations following the laws of physics describing the evolution of the atmosphere, ocean, land, and other components
• Solved in cells or grid boxes
• The physical laws provide contraints on how the model can evolve (e.g.conservation of mass).
• In practice, each component of the Climate System is a separate program.
• Componenets share information as needed (i.e. coupling) A climate scientist’s laboratory.

What are the parts of the Climate System that we want to model?

from Gettelman A., Rood R.B. 2016 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-48959-8_2

from Gettelman A., Rood R.B. 2016 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-48959-8_2

Each of these component have many details! This gets complicated! We must balance resolution, complexity, sample size (ensemble size or simulation length) with the resources of a large supercomputer. Earth system models demand significant computer resources even for a supercomputer!

from Challinor et al. 2009, DOI: 10.1175/2008BAMS2403.1

What types of Experiments can I do with Earth System Models to answer science questions?

There are three broad categories of experiments:

1. Simulation: what the model thinks the climate looks like under certain conditions
2. Projection: what the model thinks the climate will look like in the future under different scenarios
3. Prediction: a forecast for a specific date given initial conditions

Scientific Questions and model experiments

Below are some scientific questions. In your breakout group, discuss which kind of experiment could be used to answer the question. Note that the categories are not mutually exclusive and there is not necessarily a single correct answer for each one.

1. How well does a model predict the recent heatwave in CA?
2. How well would a model predict the heatwave in CA if we knew the sea surface temperature perfectly throughout the forecast?
3. How well does a particular model simulate the climate variability over the last 100 years?
4. Are changes in the number of heatwaves in a model over time due to global warming or internal variability?
5. Would the precipitation in a model be better represented if I made an improvement to the convective parameterization?
6. How uncertain is future precipitation given a “business as usual” scenario?

What will we learn about Earth System Models in this class?

Climate models are developed by large teams of scientists (100s of people) who spend their entire careers on this. Most model developers are experts in their one piece of the modeling system. It is not possilble to learn all the complicated details of a climate model. This class takes a practical approach.

At the end of this course,learners will be able to:

• Design and Run Earth System Model experiments for hypothesis driven research
• Identify different types of experiments from Earth System models and what they can tell us
• Analyze the output of an Earth System Model appropriately for a given type of experiment
• Utilize a high-performance computing system for performing Earth System Model experiments
• Use an Earth System model in their research

Key Points

• Earth System Models are our laboratory

• Earth System Models are our complex and computationally demanding

• There are 3 broad types of experiments: Simulation, Prediction, Projection

• Running Earth System Model Experiment requires technical skills we will learn

Class Project

Overview

Teaching: min
Exercises: min

Questions

• What is this semester project?

Objectives

• Start thinking about the topic for your semester project

Description of Project

In this class, you will learn to perform hypothesis driven experiments with an Earth System Model. You will complete a class project that involves application of the skills from this class to your own model experiments. The project will consist of:

• A written paper describing your scientific question, hypothesis, experiment design, and results.
• An oral presentation to the class describing the project

You may perform proof-of-concept experiments on a scientific question related to your graduate research and/or interests or you may reproduce the results from a journal article in which experiments were performed using climate model. You should use CESM for your experiments.

Start Thinking about your scientific question

What scientific topic would you like to explore?

Which type of experiment appeals to you and why?

Key Points

• A semester project is required for this course