Paleoscape model of coastal South Africa during modern human origins: Progress in scaling and coupling climate, vegetation, and agent-based models on XSEDE

Eric Shook, Colin Wren, Curtis W. Marean, Alastair J. Potts, Janet Franklin, Francois Engelbrecht, David O'Neal, Marco Janssen, Erich Fisher, Kim Hill, Karen J. Esler, Richard M. Cowling, Simon Scheiter, Glenn Moncrieff

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

To better understand the origins of modern humans, we are developing a paleoscape model that simulates the climatic conditions and distribution of natural resources avail- Able to humans during this critical stage of human evolution. Our geographic focus is the southern Cape region of South Africa, which was rich in natural resources for hunter- gatherer groups including edible plants, shellfish, animals, and raw materials. We report our progress in using the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE) to realize the paleoscape model, which consists of four components: A climate model, correlative and dynamic vegetation models, and agent-based models. We adopt a workflow-based approach that combines modeling and data analytics to couple these four modeling components using XSEDE. We have made significant progress in scaling climate and agent-based models on XSEDE. Our next steps will be to couple these models to the vegetation models to complete the workflow, which will require overcoming multiple theoretical, methodological, and technical challenges.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationProceedings of the XSEDE 2015 Conference
Subtitle of host publicationScientific Advancements Enabled by Enhanced Cyberinfrastructure
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery
ISBN (Electronic)9781450337205
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 26 2015
Event4th Annual Conference on Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment, XSEDE 2015 - St. Louis, United States
Duration: Jul 26 2015Jul 30 2015

Publication series

NameACM International Conference Proceeding Series
Volume2015-July

Other

Other4th Annual Conference on Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment, XSEDE 2015
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySt. Louis
Period7/26/157/30/15

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Copyright held by the owner/author(s).

Keywords

  • Agent-based simulation
  • Paleoclimate simulation
  • Paleovegetation simulation

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