IS-ENES3 implements the third phase of the distributed e-infrastructure of the European Network for Earth System Modelling (ENES). Its key goal is to stimulate collaboration, disseminate software and data, and further integrate the European climate modelling community. IS-ENES3 supports climate research, climate impact science, and the climate services industry, bringing down barriers of access, and expanding the community who can exploit the data and knowledge produced by state-of-the-art climate models and reference simulations. In doing so, IS-ENES3 aims to find innovative ways of working with the Copernicus programme, with other parts of the European data infrastructure, and with the high-performance computing and data analytics industries. IS-ENES3 partners combine expertise in climate modelling, computational science, data management, climate impacts and climate services, with proven ability to enhance the international influence of European science. Central to its role is the support to the international coordinated climate simulations of the World Climate Research Program (WCRP), which serves as a reference for IPCC Assessment reports.
IS-ENES3 is organised around three main objectives with the overarching goal of providing the infrastructure to better understand and project climate variability and change through technical excellence:
1. Pursue the integration of the Earth’s climate system modelling community and prepare the sustainability of its infrastructure;
2. Foster the common development of models and tools, and the efficient use of high-performance computing; and
3. Support the exploitation of model data by the Earth system science community, the climate change impact community and the climate service community.
IS-ENES3 is structured around access services, networking and joint research activities. The delivery of the European part of the international Earth System Grid Federation (ESGF) is a central point of entry to services providing access to new model data. Access to software, models and tools are also key activities in supporting the community. Joint research supports a new community sea ice model, promotes efficient use of high-performance computing, improves the European common model evaluation framework, and develops and enhances services around data. Extensive networking aims at growing the user base, increasing the cohesion of the climate modelling community, promoting innovation and preparing for a long-term sustainable infrastructure in support of climate modelling.
