nextGEMS: entering the era of kilometer-scale Earth system modeling

Abstract. The Next Generation of Earth Modeling Systems (nextGEMS) project aimed to produce multidecadal climate simulations, for the first time, with resolved kilometer-scale (km-scale) processes in the ocean, land, and atmosphere. In only 3 years, nextGEMS achieved this milestone with the two km-scale Earth system models, ICOsahedral Non-hydrostatic model (ICON) and Integrated Forecasting System coupled to the Finite-volumE Sea ice-Ocean Model (IFS-FESOM). nextGEMS was based on three cornerstones: (1) developing km-scale Earth system models with small errors in the energy and water balance, (2) performing km-scale climate simulations with a throughput greater than 1 simulated year per day, and (3) facilitating new workflows for an efficient analysis of the large simulations with common data structures and output variables. These cornerstones shaped the timeline of nextGEMS, divided into four cycles. Each cycle marked the release of a new configuration of ICON and IFS-FESOM, which were evaluated at hackathons. The hackathon participants included experts from climate science, software engineering, and high-performance computing as well as users from the energy and agricultural sectors. The continuous efforts over the four cycles allowed us to produce 30-year simulations with ICON and IFS-FESOM, spanning the period 2020–2049 under the SSP3-7.0 scenario. The throughput was about 500 simulated days per day on the Levante supercomputer of the German Climate Computing Center (DKRZ). The simulations employed a horizontal grid of about 5 km resolution in the ocean and 10 km resolution in the atmosphere and land. Aside from this technical achievement, the simulations allowed us to gain new insights into the realism of ICON and IFS-FESOM. Beyond its time frame, nextGEMS builds the foundation of the Climate Change Adaptation Digital Twin developed in the Destination Earth initiative and paves the way for future European research on climate change.

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Publication Details

Journal
Geoscientific model development
Published
2025-10-23
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-7735-2025
Citations
3
Primary Topic
Geophysics and Gravity Measurements
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
5.38

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nextGEMS: entering the era of kilometer-scale Earth system modeling

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Geoscientific model development
Geophysics and Gravity Measurements
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nextGEMS: entering the era of kilometer-scale Earth system modeling

Jasper Denissen, Thorsten Mauritsen, Nils Wedi, Aleksei Koldunov, Peter Kuma, Daniel Klocke, Heikki Järvinen, Shunya Koseki, Philipp Weiss, Matthew J. Griffith, Rumeng Li, Tobias Kölling, Martina Klose, Thomas Rackow, Jan Hegewald, Frida A.‐M. Bender, René Redler, Chiel C. van Heerwaarden, Helmuth Haak, Nikolay Koldunov, Patrick Scholz, Richard Forbes, Thomas Josef Jung, Szymon P. Malinowski, Katherine Grayson, Alexander J. Baker, Lukas Kluft, Dorian Spät, Dragana Bojović, Elsa Mohíno, Hans Segura, Lauri Tuppi, Dmitry Sidorenko, Adrian M. Tompkins, Heike Konow, Sergey S. Kosukhin, Suvarchal K. Cheedela, Gabriele Arduini, Divya Sri Praturi, Madeleine Ekblom, Alejandro Uribe, Jonathan Wille, Arjun Kumar, Nils Brüggemann, Reiner Schnur, Markus Jochum, Bimochan Niraula, Xabier Pedruzo‐Bagazgoitia, Sarah Warnau, Jiawei Bao, Aiko Voigt, Menno Veerman, Lukas Brunner, Johann Jungclaus, Oliver Gutjahr, Domokos Sármány, Swantje Bastin, Shabeh ul Hasson, Piotr Dziekan, Björn Stevens, Lilli Freischem, Philipp Geier, Simona Bordoni, Hanna Pawłowska, Tobias Becker, Ioan Hadade, Mirco Valentini, Ulrike Proske, Theresa Mieslinger, Dian Putrasahan, Irina Sandu, Birgit Sützl, Edgar Dolores-Tesillos, Ian Cunha D’Amato Viana Dragaud, Álvaro González-Cervera, Erich Markus Fischer, Emanuel Dutra, Marta Wacławczyk, Karsten Peters, Eulàlia Baulenas, Sandrine Bony, Junhong Lee, Sebastian Beyer, Marcus Dengler, Daisuke Takasuka, Imme Benedict, Yu‐Ting Wu, Cathy Hohenegger, Noel Keenlyside, Fabian Wachsmann, Jakub Nowak, Olivia Martius, Kristian Mogensen, Jan Frederik Engels, Pier Luigi Vidale, Paul Gierz, Razvan Aguridan, Claudia Frauen, Sebastian K. Müller, Josh Kousal, Patrice Brehmer, Philip Stier, Sebastian Milinski, Karl‐Hermann Wieners, Hendryk Bockelmann, Juan Pedro Mellado, Sushant Das, Diego García-Maroto, Kerstin Haslehner, Marius Winkler, Nicolas Maury, Maximilian Meindl, Abdoulaye Sarré, Saliou Faye, Monika Esch, Pajam Sobhani, David Santuy, Matthias Aengenheyster
article en
3 citations

Abstract

Abstract. The Next Generation of Earth Modeling Systems (nextGEMS) project aimed to produce multidecadal climate simulations, for the first time, with resolved kilometer-scale (km-scale) processes in the ocean, land, and atmosphere. In only 3 years, nextGEMS achieved this milestone with the two km-scale Earth system models, ICOsahedral Non-hydrostatic model (ICON) and Integrated Forecasting System coupled to the Finite-volumE Sea ice-Ocean Model (IFS-FESOM). nextGEMS was based on three cornerstones: (1) developing km-scale Earth system models with small errors in the energy and water balance, (2) performing km-scale climate simulations with a throughput greater than 1 simulated year per day, and (3) facilitating new workflows for an efficient analysis of the large simulations with common data structures and output variables. These cornerstones shaped the timeline of nextGEMS, divided into four cycles. Each cycle marked the release of a new configuration of ICON and IFS-FESOM, which were evaluated at hackathons. The hackathon participants included experts from climate science, software engineering, and high-performance computing as well as users from the energy and agricultural sectors. The continuous efforts over the four cycles allowed us to produce 30-year simulations with ICON and IFS-FESOM, spanning the period 2020–2049 under the SSP3-7.0 scenario. The throughput was about 500 simulated days per day on the Levante supercomputer of the German Climate Computing Center (DKRZ). The simulations employed a horizontal grid of about 5 km resolution in the ocean and 10 km resolution in the atmosphere and land. Aside from this technical achievement, the simulations allowed us to gain new insights into the realism of ICON and IFS-FESOM. Beyond its time frame, nextGEMS builds the foundation of the Climate Change Adaptation Digital Twin developed in the Destination Earth initiative and paves the way for future European research on climate change.

Geoscientific model developmentVol. 18(20)
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (DE), University of Bern (CH), Universidad Complutense de Madrid (ES), The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) (IT), University of Copenhagen (DK), Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung (DE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), University of Vienna (AT), University of Helsinki (FI), Institute of Science and Technology Austria (AT), Universität Hamburg (DE), Stockholm University (SE), National Institute of Technology Rourkela (IN), University of Trento (IT), Tohoku University (JP), Portuguese Sea and Atmosphere Institute (PT), Barcelona Supercomputing Center (ES), German Climate Computing Centre (DE), GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (DE), ETH Zurich (CH), Sorbonne Université (FR), University of Oxford (GB), Institute for New Economic Thinking (US), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (SN), National Centre for Atmospheric Science (GB), Institute of Geophysics Polish Academy of Sciences (PL), Institut Sénégalais de Recherches Agricoles (SN), Max Planck Institute for Meteorology (DE), University of Bergen (NO), University of Warsaw (PL), University of Reading (GB), Hamburg University of Technology (DE), Wageningen University & Research (NL), Technische Universität Braunschweig (DE), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (ES)
Deutsches Klimarechenzentrum, Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Openalex Percentile: Top 4%
Geophysics and Gravity Measurements
5.38
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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