Keynote: Sebastian Steinig (University of Bristol, UK)
climatearchive.org: 500 million years of climate data at your fingertips
When: 16:30 - 17:00
Abstract
Earth’s climate shows a remarkable variability on geological timescales, ranging from widespread glaciation to ice-free greenhouse conditions over the course of the Phanerozoic, i.e. the last 540 million years. Earth system modelling allows us to better understand and constrain the drivers of these changes and provides valuable reference data for other paleoclimate disciplines (e.g., chemistry, geology, hydrology). However, the sheer volume and complexity of these datasets often prevents direct access and use by non-modellers, limiting their benefits for large parts of our community.
I present the online platform “climatearchive.org” to break down these barriers and provide intuitive access to (paleo) climate data for everyone. More than 100 coupled climate model simulations with the Unified Model (UM) build the backbone of the web application. Key climate variables (e.g. temperature, precipitation, vegetation and circulation) are displayed on a virtual globe in an intuitive three-dimensional environment and on a continuous time axis throughout the Phanerozoic. The software runs in any web browser — including smartphones — and promotes visual data exploration, streamlines model-data comparisons, and supports public outreach efforts. I will discuss our novel modelling approach, the current web application and outline the future integration of new sources of model and geochemical proxy data to streamline and advance interdisciplinary paleoclimate research.
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