Construction Project of the Earth System Numerical Simulator (“EarthLab”) is a national-class key scientific and technological infrastructure project during the “Twelfth Five-Year Plan” Period. This Project is undertaken by the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences as legal person for construction project and co-constructed by Tsinghua University. EarthLab is located in Miyun Economic Development Zone, Eastern Cluster of Huairou Science City, Beijing. In November 2018, this construction project kicked off in full swing. In June 2021, it was initially completed. Acceptance inspection for this construction project will be carried out in 2022.
EarthLab is committed to scientific objectives as follows: exploring physical, chemical and biological processes of atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, lithosphere and biosphere on the earth and their interactions, probing into the effects of these interactions on the overall earth system and regional environment over China; merging simulated and observed data to improve the accuracy of prediction, achieving quantitative description and simulation for complex processes of the earth system under the mesoscale resolution, and scientifically underpinning major issues (such as national disaster prevention and reduction, response to climate change and governance of atmospheric environment).
Core indicators of EarthLab are given as follows. The Earth System Model will feature horizontal resolution of 10-25km on a global scale. Spatial resolution of regional high-resolution environmental simulation system will reach 3km over the whole China and 1km over China’s key areas, respectively. The peak computing capacity of EarthLab will keep at least 15PF, and total storage capacity will reach at least 80PB. EarthLab will boast the first well-established database and data assimilation system in support for numerical simulation of the Earth System in China. Internationally-leading support management system and world-class visualization system will be dedicated to the Earth System.
