CERFACS CERFACS Scientific Activity Report Jan. 2010 – Dec. 2011

1 Introduction
Research activities in the Global Change team merge scientific studies with the development of tools and
methods supporting these studies. The scientific studies define the tools and methods to develop, which in
turn increase the efficiency of the purely scientific work. Sharing tools and methods with other research
laboratories is also a good way to establish long-lasting scientific links.
Coupling numerical models, i.e. implementing synchronized exchanges of information between models, is
a central issue in many research fields such as climate modelling, data assimilation, or computational fluid
dynamics. Since about 20 years, CERFACS specializes in developing coupling software tools, also called
“couplers”, and in setting-up coupled systems using these couplers.
The following research actions are reported in the chapter :
1. The OASIS coupler
2. The OpenPALM coupler
3. HPC Climate modelling
During the last two years, the Global Change team has continued to ensure the maintenance, support
and development of the OASIS and OpenPALM couplers. These tools, produced and distributed by our
team for many years capitalize the Global Change team expertise in code coupling. They share some
basics characteristics but have different specific features and target different communities. OASIS, used
by about 35 research groups around the world, specializes in coupled climate modelling while OpenPALM,
developed in collaboration with ONERA, is a dynamic coupler currently used in more than 40 industrial
applications or data assimilation suites. Thanks to these activities, the Global Change team plays a central
role in the adaptation of coupled applications to the new and future massively parallel platforms, in
particular for HPC climate modelling.
CERFACS ACTIVITY REPORT 99