Integrated Frameworks for Earth and Space Weather Simulation

Simulations of Earth and space weather require the representation and coupling of distinct physical domains in a flexible, computationally efficient manner. There is increasing call to interface Earth and space models, as the interplay of phenomena between these domains is an active topic of basic research, and a key factor in operational prediction systems. Software frameworks have been developed in both the Earth and space communities to promote code reuse, coupling and interface standards, and high performance. These include the Earth System Modeling Framework (ESMF), developed for use in numerical weather prediction, climate prediction, and other Earth science applications; the Space Weather Modeling Framework (SWMF), developed for high performance space weather modeling and self-consistently coupling models from the low solar corona to the Earth ionosphere; and the tools assembled by the Center for Integrated Space Weather Modeling (CISM), which focus on modeling systems in which flexibility and ease of adoption are critical factors. In this paper we present a technical strategy and pilot projects that combine these three frameworks into an integrated system, in a way that takes advantage of the strengths of each.