Data storage for high resolution regional climate simulations of current and future climate for Western Australia

The wheat-belt of southwest Western Australia contributes almost 50% of Australia’s total cereal crop production; the Margaret river region produces some of Australia’s finest red wines; and the northwest of Western Australia has significant agricultural potential. Additionally, the southwest of Western Australia is internationally recognized as a biodiversity hotspot; and is also one of the most fire-prone regions of Australia. All of this means that the state of Western Australia is highly susceptible to changes in climate. Low rainfall has significant impacts on wheat yields; our wines have very well-defined climatic tolerances; our native fauna and flora are impacted by climate extremes such as heat-waves. This project produces high resolution regional climate projections for the state of Western Australia, such that we can better manage risks caused by future climate change. The high volumes of data produced by our models require significant amounts of data storage, without which none of this critical research would be possible. This project has been directly and indirectly funded over many years via: Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DE170100102) WA State Centre for Excellence in Climate Change, Woodland and Forest Health Australian Grains Research and Development Grant (MCV00013) Australian Grains Research and Development Grains Industry Research Scholarships Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science (CE110001028) National Science Foundation (Grant ATM 0523583) Australian Research Council’s Discovery funding scheme (Project DP0664515)

西澳大利亚州西南部小麦带贡献了澳大利亚近50%的谷物总产量；玛格丽特河地区出产澳大利亚顶尖红酒；西澳大利亚州西北部则拥有可观的农业发展潜力。此外，西澳大利亚州西南部被国际公认为生物多样性热点（biodiversity hotspot）区域，同时也是澳大利亚火灾易发程度最高的区域之一。上述种种因素使得西澳大利亚州极易受到气候变化的影响：少雨会对小麦产量造成显著冲击，当地葡萄酒产业有着极为明确的气候耐受阈值，本土动植物则会受到热浪等极端气候事件的影响。本项目将为西澳大利亚州提供高分辨率的区域气候预估数据，助力我们更好地应对未来气候变化引发的各类风险。本项目模型所生成的海量数据需要大规模的数据存储支撑，否则这项至关重要的研究将无法推进。多年来，本项目获得了直接与间接的经费支持，具体包括：澳大利亚研究理事会发现早期职业研究者奖（Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award，编号DE170100102）、西澳大利亚州气候变化、林地与森林健康卓越中心、澳大利亚谷物研发拨款（Australian Grains Research and Development Grant，编号MCV00013）、澳大利亚谷物研发与谷物产业研究奖学金、澳大利亚研究理事会气候系统科学卓越中心（Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science，编号CE110001028）、美国国家科学基金会（项目编号ATM 0523583），以及澳大利亚研究理事会发现资助计划（项目编号DP0664515）