EdGCM
The Educational Global Climate Model or EdGCM is a fully functional global climate model (GCM) that has been ported for use on desktop computers (Windows PCs and Macs). It operates through a graphical user interface and is integrated with a relational database and scientific visualization utllities, all of which are aimed at helping improve the quality of teaching and learning of climatology by making real-world research experiences more accessible. EdGCM is designed to permit teachers and students to conduct in-depth investigations of past, present and future climate scenarios in a manner that is essentially identical to the techniques used by national and international climate research organizations like the IPCC.
EdGCM was developed at the Goddard Institute for Space Studies as a joint project of Columbia University and NASA scientists and programmers. The Global Climate Model at the core of EdGCM is referred to in the scientific literature as the GISS Model II. During the 1980s and early 1990s this GCM was one of NASA's primary research tools used in the study of global climate change. Results from the model have appeared in hundreds of scientific publications and have been used in testimony about climate change to the U. S. Congress.
The coarser resolution of the climate model in EdGCM (8° x 10°, latitude x longitude) makes it inexpensive to run. But, because it contains most of the key atmospheric physics of modern GCMs, EdGCM is also used by climate researchers worldwide who would otherwise not have access to the most recent, computationally expensive, versions of GCMs.
See also
- NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies
- NCAR Community Climate System Model
- NOAA GFDL CM2.X
- Earth Simulator
- HadCM3 - explanation of an AOGCM
External links
- EdGCM at Columbia University
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