Dev: Introduction

Before we get to any actual code, there are some definitions that need to be clarified.

SimElement

The basic element of an ESM system is a SimElement. These objects should have clearly defined names and version numbers, and “type” descriptions (e.g. atmosphere model, ocean model, coupler, etc…)

Component

A component is a fully functional model, which could be run as is and produce interesting physical outputs. An ocean circulation model (e.g. FESOM) is a Component.

SetUp

A collection of Component objects which run as one job on a supercomputer. These Component objects usually exchange information over some sort of coupling interface, for instance the OASIS3mct library.

Both Component and SetUp are specialized types of SimElement. In order to make life easier for simulation scientists, the tools in this framework try to provide easy access to the following tasks:

1. Downloading ESM code (usually in Fortran or C)
2. Compiling the ESM code for a specific supercomputer
3. Running a simulation
4. Archiving the results
5. Analysis of the output

Each of these tasks can be described by a specific object and methods connected to it. The number of methods needed to fully describe a certain task may vary.

We will work through these steps to implement a dummy component random_clouds, which randomly generates cuboids of up to 3x5x1 in a 20x20x50 matrix, and moves them along with a gentle wind. We will also implement random_clouds_standalone as a SetUp to actually execute simulations using random_clouds.

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