T2.15 - fact sheet http://tyndall.e-collaboration.co.uk/publications/fact_sheets/untitled/t2_...

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Linking computers together to produce integrated assessments

of climate change
Understanding the interaction between policy decisions, the economy and environment requires an integrated assessment
that incorporates information from different disciplines. Typically, this has involved linkage of simulations from scientists at
a single institution to produce an integrated model. However, such linkages do not take advantage of recent developments
in information technology that allow widely separated organisations to collaborate over the internet.

Dr Rachel Warren, from the Tyndall Centre at the University of East Anglia's School of Environmental Sciences, and
colleagues are bringing Integrated Assessment Modelling together with computer networking technology to create a virtual
organisation able to collaborate on climate change responses. The researchers will initially develop a prototype Integrated
Assessment Model on a single computer, comprising several interacting modules that describe the climate, economy and
vegetation at global and regional scales. They will then demonstrate the model's ability to be distributed electronically by
establishing an electronic network that allows researchers to run the model from their desks at organisations around the
UK, drawing from modules residing on different computers around the country. They will also develop a simple user
interface to allow scientists, government decision-makers and other stakeholders to use the Integrated Assessment Model
by simply clicking on their computer screen to select a policy option to investigate, producing results that are clearly
displayed in a user-friendly format.

The distributed, prototype model will lay the foundation for a Community Integrated Assessment Model, which will use
novel software to ensure the secure and coordinated communication of modules and sharing of computing resources across
a large network of institutions. Initial work has commenced to link the Tyndall Centre, the Potsdam Institute for Climate
and Policy, and the International Centre for Integrative Studies. The system will also incorporate sophisticated interfaces to
allow easy access to the results. The expanded model will inform industry, policy-makers, NGOs and the general public on
how various policies and pathways will affect climate, the subsequent climate impacts, and the choices open to society.

A new Tyndall project is using novel computer networking technology to bring organisations together electronically to
collaborate on integrated assessments of climate change.

More information

Contact the lead investigator of Project T2.15 (SOFTIAM: Integrated Assessment Modelling using distributed software
components):
Dr Rachel Warren
Tyndall Centre, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ UK
Phone: +44 (0) 1603 59 3912; Fax: +44 (0) 1603 59 3901
Email: r.warren@uea.ac.uk

Other researchers involved in this project are:

Mr Graham Riley, Dr Len Freeman, Dr Michael Bane and Dr Rupert Ford, Computer Science, University of Manchester
Dr Jonathan Köhler, Department of Applied Economics, University of Cambridge
Dr Larissa Naylor and Dr Tim Mitchell, Tyndall Centre, University of East Anglia

Project duration:
August 2002 to July 2004

Useful web sites:

The Tyndall Centre: www.tyndall.ac.uk
Theme 1 Flagship Project: www.tyndall.ac.uk/research/theme1/theme1_flagship.shtml
A blueprint for integrated assessment of climate change: www.tyndall.ac.uk/research/theme1/final_reports/it1_3.pdf
Manchester University Centre for Novel Computing: www.cs.man.ac.uk/cnc
The Globus Project and computational grids: www.globus.org

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