EdGCM: The Software

About - Software

Written by Mark Chandler

EdGCM, or the Educational Global Climate Model, is a suite of software applications that allows educators and students to run a fully functional 3D global climate model (GCM) on desktop computers in the classroom. Through the use of EdGCM, students learn to formulate climate experiments, run computer simulations, post-process raw data, analyze output using scientific visualization tools, and report on their results in the manner of a working scientist. The GCM at the core of EdGCM is developed at NASA, and is used by researchers to study climates of the past, present and future. The EdGCM suite provides features that streamline and simplify the students' interactions with the GCM (the GCM itself is left unchanged), and includes: A user-friendly interface for easy management of simulations A searchable database of the experiments run, with details on the parameters (forcings) used for each experiment Mapping, plotting, and data analysis software for visualizing simulation output, and comparing the results of multiple simulations A special feature for the creation of reports and/or instructional materials (text, charts and images) that can be shared or exported to the web Climate experiments run by students can be as simple or as complex as an educator wants to make them. Simple experiments might examine the impact of a single forcing (e.g., how does the Sun warm the planet?). More advanced experiments can be designed to explore the feedbacks caused by changing multiple climate forcings simultaneously (e.g., how do alterations in anthropogenic greenhouse gases, such as chlorofluorocarbons and carbon dioxide from fossil fuel burning, effect climate). Because EdGCM uses a fully functional climate model, students can even conduct their own in-depth investigations using current data to produce, in near real-time, the same kinds of climate model projections created by climate scientists and reported in the news. The EdGCM suite comes with number of sample simulations, but educators have great flexibility in constructing their own scenarios to satisfy specific curricular requirements. EdGCM thus scales for use at levels from middle school to graduate school, making it a unique tool for linking research to the classroom. Individual Components of EdGCM Software: Toolbar Simulation Library Setup Simulations Analyze Output Scientific Visualization Report Results Cleanup