This award will incorporate Ionospheric, Thermospheric and Mesopheric (ITM) models into the Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC) at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center. The CCMC will then provide the research community access to these models via new online interfaces, and transfer validated versions of the ITM models to US space weather operational agencies after suitable testing and evaluation have been performed. For this purpose, CCMC intends to hire a new staff member to be supported by the present proposal. CCMC staff will also work with developers of ITM models, and will adapt these models to run on CCMC's in-house computing resources.
CCMC will evaluate the performance of the ITM models and will work to increase model performance where desirable and possible, which will include coupling models of varying domains and physical scales. After models have been evaluated for scientific validity and numerical stability, and their performance assessed through metrics-based studies, they will be considered for transfer to operational agencies in the federal government. CCMC has established a new path for this process. Thus, the ITM models, used by US operational agencies, will be greatly enhanced by the proposed program of work.
The CCMC is a multi-agency effort established and overseen by NSF, NASA, NOAA, and the Department of Defense. In addition to helping transition to operations, the center also participate in educational programs designed for students and operational forecasters.
