Global km-scale Hackathon - Live Blog

Welcome to the Live Blog of the Digital Earth’s Global KM-Scale Hackathon!

This week-long event brings together scientists, developers, and data experts from around the world to accelerate progress in kilometer-scale Earth system modeling. Supported by the World Climate Research Programme and affiliated initiatives - including ESMO, nextGEMS, WarmWorld, EERIE, and Destination Earth - this hackathon is a collaborative sprint aimed at pushing the frontiers of climate science and modeling technologies. Stay tuned for daily updates, insights, and behind-the-scenes highlights as the teams tackle real-world challenges and showcase their innovations.

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Thursday, May 15th 2025 (most recent on top)

📍14:30 UTC - Day 4 at the São Paulo Node: Spotlight on Regional Climate Extremes

On the fourth day of the Digital Earths Hackathon, the São Paulo node turned its attention to regional climate variability and extremes.

Dr. David Pareja-Quispe from Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (UNMSM), Lima, Peru, presented on "Climate Variability and Extreme Droughts in the Peruvian Andes," highlighting the pressing challenges faced in high-altitude regions.

Dr. Cristiano Prestrelo de Oliveira from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Brazil, followed with a talk on "Observed and Projected Changes in Dry Days and Intense Rainfall over Northeast Brazil using CMIP6 Models,"drawing attention to trends in extreme weather and their socio-environmental implications.

Both talks underscored the importance of refining climate models to better capture regional extremes and inform risk management in vulnerable areas.

📍13:30 UTC - Day 4 Highlights from the Beijing Node

Day 4 brought fresh energy and vibrant collaboration to the Beijing node. Participants were treated to a talk by Ms. Jenny Lin, editor of the Advances in Atmospheric Sciences journal, who shared valuable insights into the publication process and scientific communication.

The collaborative spirit continued outdoors as teams took advantage of the sunshine to share their ongoing work in an informal setting. Groups from the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, China Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing Normal University, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), and Donghua University showcased exciting progress, sparking discussions on everything from model diagnostics to cross-institutional analysis.

📍12:00 UTC - Tropical Cyclones Team Update: Tracking Category 5 Hurricanes in Climate Models At the UK node, Stella Bourdin and the tropical cyclone team uncovered Category 5 hurricanes within several global, kilometer-scale climate model simulations. These powerful storms, complete with visible eyes and detailed tracks, demonstrate one of the key advantages of high-resolution global models: the ability to explicitly represent critical processes involved in tropical cyclone formation. This capability offers exciting potential for improving our understanding of extreme weather in a warming climate. While work is ongoing to evaluate the realism of these events—such as analyzing their internal structure—these early results provide a glimpse of the scientific value that next-generation models can deliver.

📍09:00 UTC - Tokyo Node: A Deep Dive into Observational Studies by Chie Yokoyama

Prof. Chie Yokoyama delivered a compelling presentation on “Mesoscale Convective Systems and Global Precipitation Measurements (GPM)”, showcasing how satellite-based observations are transforming our understanding of precipitation dynamics.

She highlighted the use of spaceborne precipitation radar to capture the three-dimensional structure of rainfall from space—providing unprecedented insights into when, where, and how precipitation events occur. These advanced instruments enable robust statistical analyses across regions and time scales.

The talk proceeded with a focused exploration of early summer precipitation systems over East Asia, including a detailed look at the Baiu Front—one of the key features influencing seasonal rainfall patterns in the region. Prof. Yokoyama introduced then the detection of precipitation events using Quasi-Stationary Precipitation Bands (QSCBs) around Japan.

Wednesday, May 14th 2025

📍Day 3 Highlights – Digital Earths Global Hackathon

The third day of the Digital Earths Global Hackathon marked another step forward in collaborative scientific exploration, with activity continuing to build across the global network of participating nodes.

Researchers delved into a wide array of topics enabled by high-resolution, kilometer-scale simulations. From the dynamics of deep convective storms to innovative approaches in climate downscaling and hyperlocal forecasting, the day’s presentations reflected both the scientific depth and breadth of the hackathon.

Key themes included:

• Intelligent forecasting using large ensemble systems

• The application of AI to enhance regional and urban climate modeling

• New insights into tropical storm behavior, monsoon onset, and multiscale wave activity

Teams continued refining analyses, generating diagnostics, and comparing simulation outputs to observations. Early results are already offering valuable perspectives on everything from cyclone tracking and inter-scale energy transfer to aerosol transport and coastal weather patterns.

Beyond the science, several nodes enriched the day with cultural and community-building activities, including outreach to students and creative engagements that connect scientific research with society.

📍Day 3 Recap - US East Node

Momentum continued to build at the US East node of the WCRP Digital Earths Hackathon. Participants engaged with NOAA scientists in two insightful sessions that sparked lively discussions and ideas for further exploration.

Talks focused on the GPU implementation of the FV3 atmospheric dynamic core, highlighting advances in high-performance modeling, and land-sea contrast in intense convective activity, analyzed through both km-scale simulations and observational data. These presentations provided valuable context for ongoing analysis and underscored the power of combining computational innovation with Earth system science.

📍 20:00 UTC - Day 3 Summary at the São Paulo Node

The third day at the São Paulo node highlighted the role of AI in climate science.
Dr. Gabriel Perez (MeteoIA) presented on bridging km-scale simulations with hyperlocal climate impacts using machine learning, while Dr. Maria Laura Bettolli (UBA, Argentina) discussed deep-learning approaches for high-resolution downscaling in South America.

The node also welcomed students from E.E. Miguel Munhoz Filho, participating through the PAAET program led by Prof. Paulo Gois — a meaningful exchange between research and education.

📍 12:00 UTC - Day 3 Summary from Beijing Node: Science Meets Culture

Day three at the Beijing node unfolded with a keynote presentation by Prof. Chen Xi from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, titled “Application-Oriented Weather Forecast Paradigm in an Accelerated Era.” Prof. Chen delved into the future of intelligent forecasting, highlighting the potential of large-scale super ensembles to transform how we connect numerical weather prediction (NWP), data generation, and machine learning. The talk sparked deep reflection on how these innovations can accelerate operational weather and climate modeling.

Building on strong momentum from the previous day, teams in Beijing continued to refine plots and diagnostics—comparing model outputs with observations and diving into a wide range of topics. Early analyses are emerging on:

• Onset dates of the 2020 summer monsoon

• Tracking methods for Mesoscale Convective Systems (MCSs)

• Representation of MJO convection

• Characteristics of multiscale tropical waves

To complement the intense scientific work, participants also enjoyed a creative immersion into traditional Chinese culture—crafting custom lacquer fans themed around EarthLab. A beautiful moment of balance, blending scientific exploration with artistic tradition.

📍 09:00 UTC - Tokyo Node: Presentation on Global km-scale terrestrial hydrological modelling
Prof. Kei Yoshimura presented cutting-edge work from land modeling groups focused on integrating diverse components into a unified hydrological modeling framework. He showcased its application at an impressive 1-km resolution using Japan’s Fugaku supercomputer.

A central theme of the talk was the improvement of subgrid parameterizations, particularly to better capture contrasts between wetter lowlands and drier highlands—a critical refinement for realistic land surface representation. Prof. Yoshimura emphasized that accurately modeling groundwater processes becomes increasingly important at climate timescales, where long-term water storage and exchange play a key role.

More accurate land modeling directly informs decision-making in water management, agriculture, and disaster preparedness. As Earth system models advance toward finer spatial resolutions, this integration of hydrology becomes ever more essential.

📍 07:00 UTC - Australia Node: Day 3 Highlights
At the Canberra node, Day 2 featured exciting first results highlighting the unique capabilities of km-scale models to resolve fine-scale weather processes. One team analyzed extreme hourly rainfall around Sydney and Fiji, comparing ICON and UM models to observations. ICON captured higher-end precipitation events especially well—while the inclusion of Fiji, often unresolved in coarser models, showcased the power of high-resolution simulations for small island states.

Another group explored the diurnal cycle of coastal winds and rainfall, creating composites of daily wind variability to examine sea breeze effects—with plans to expand into rainfall diagnostics. This analysis also sparked cross-node collaboration, linking up with a group in Boulder investigating land breezes.

📍 00:00 UTC - Tokyo Node: presentation on Healpix
Day 3 kicked off in Tokyo with a presentation by Tobias Kölling and Tina Odaka on Understanding Chunks in HEALPix  

Tuesday, May 13th 2025 

📍 UK Node – Day 2 Highlights
Day 2 at the UK node was a blend of scientific momentum and community spirit. Teams began generating their first plots and diagnostics, enabling direct comparisons between climate simulations and putting new analytical workflows to the test.

A lively “Show and Tell” session featured early looks at topics such as inter-scale energy transfers, dust and aerosol migration, and cyclone track densities—sparking insightful discussions. The collaborative atmosphere extended beyond the screen, with participants building connections over punting and spikeball in the sunshine.

📍 17:00 UTC - Brazil Node: Regional Focus on Urban Climate Impacts
On Day 2 at the São Paulo node, Dr. Everaldo Barreiros de Souza (Federal University of Pará) delivered a presentation on regional climate change modeling. His talk highlighted RegCM simulations exploring the effects of urbanization under future climate scenarios in the Belém metropolitan region of Eastern Amazonia.

By zooming in on localized impacts, the presentation emphasized the importance of km-scale modeling in addressing urban climate resilience and adaptation strategies in vulnerable regions.

📍 16:15 UTC - NVIDIA Presents “Climate in a Bottle”
At the US-West node, NVIDIA presented an exciting look into the future of climate modeling with their talk, "Climate in a Bottle: Towards a Generative Foundation Model for the km-Scale Atmosphere."

The team showcased early work on a generative AI model trained using high-resolution data from ICON simulations and ERA5 reanalyses, aiming to emulate atmospheric processes at kilometer scales. By combining cutting-edge machine learning with physical climate data, NVIDIA is exploring how foundation models can accelerate climate prediction and analysis

📍 15:00 UTC - Hamburg Node: Keynote by Caroline Muller on Deep Convective Storms
At the Hamburg node, Caroline Muller (ISTA) delivered a compelling keynote on the data-driven investigation of Deep Convective Systems (DCSs)—the dominant source of tropical precipitation and a key player in shaping the tropical radiation budget.

Her talk explored how km-scale global simulations, Lagrangian tracking, and machine learning are opening new doors to understand the growth and organization of these powerful systems.

📍 10:00 UTC - Hamburg Node: Collaborative Energy on Day 2
At the Hamburg node, participants have formed dynamic working groups exploring a wide array of topics—from cloud climatology and aerosols to ice sheets and beyond.

The atmosphere is buzzing with collaboration, as representatives from NVIDIA and initiatives like the DestinE Platform join forces with researchers to push the frontiers of high-resolution climate science. Innovation and teamwork are in full swing in Hamburg!

📍 07:00 UTC - Canberra closing off second day of hacking
Momentum is building at the Canberra node, with some exciting analyses taking shape! Teams are diving into a wide range of topics—from cyclones and sea breezes to extreme precipitation and the intertropical convergence zone.

📍 00:00 UTC - Analysis Insights from Tokyo – Presentation by Tomoki Ohno
At the Tokyo node, Tomoki Ohno delivered a focused presentation introducing participants to the analysis approach for the hackathon. His talk outlined key methodologies for working with km-scale simulation data and offered guidance on how to navigate the available datasets—particularly using tools tailored to the hackathon environment.

Monday, May 12th 2025

📍 22:00 UTC - Hackathon Day 1 Wrap Up
All hackathon nodes are now up and running! Despite a few technical hiccups along the way, teams across the globe successfully kicked off activities, connected with their local and remote collaborators, and laid out plans for the week ahead.

📍 19:00 UTC - UK Node: Launching with Purpose on Day 1
The UK node kicked off the hackathon by forming three focused scientific groups tackling key challenges:
- Tropical Cyclone & Mesoscale Convective System Tracking
- Inter-Scale Energy Transfers
- Air-Sea Interactions in the Tropics

Teams began by setting up their analysis environments and assigning tasks to streamline collaboration.

📍 17:00 UTC - Keynote by Tim Palmer Highlights the Urgency of Km-Scale Climate Models
Renowned climate scientist Tim Palmer delivered an insightful keynote underscoring the urgent need for km-scale climate models, particularly for capturing regional-scale processes that are critical to understanding extreme weather and climate impacts.

He emphasized that only at these resolutions can we begin to faithfully represent the physical processes that drive local extremes, making high-resolution modeling not just a scientific advance, but a societal imperative.

📍 13:00 UTC - Hamburg Node Launches with Opening by Bjorn Stevens
The Hamburg node is officially underway! Bjorn Stevens opened the session with a keynote highlighting the importance of the hackathon and its focus on km-scale Earth system modeling. Reflecting on the promise of high-resolution simulations, he remarked:

“The beauty of looking at the world at these scales is that everything is new.”

He also emphasized the collaborative spirit of this truly global event. The session continued with Marco Giorgetta (MPI-M) providing an in-depth overview of the ICON model simulation, one of the core datasets in the hackathon. This was followed by Thomas Rackow (ECMWF), who gave a detailed presentation on the custom IFS simulations developed for the hackathon, featuring resolutions as fine as 2.8 km.

📍4:00 UTC - Tokyo Node Joins the 2025 WCRP Digital Earths Hackathon
The Tokyo node is now live! Participants gathered as the session opened with a streamed presentation by Daisuke Takasuka, offering a comprehensive overview of the NICAM simulation—a key tool in high-resolution climate modeling.

📍23:00 UTC (Sun) - Canberra Node Kicks Off the 2025 WCRP Digital Earths Hackathon
The global hackathon is officially underway! The Canberra node opened with a welcome from Christian Jakob, followed by an insightful talk on high-resolution atmospheric modeling by Yi Huang.

As the day progresses, hackathon activity will launch across all other global nodes. Stay tuned here for updates as the momentum builds around the world!