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A concise overview of the DestinE digital twins and their data

New DestinE digital twin pages available

17 December 2024

Two new webpages give a concise overview of the Destination Earth (DestinE) digital twins on Climate Change Adaptation (Climate DT) and Weather-Induced Extremes (Extremes DT) and their functionalities, models, simulations and how to access their data via the DestinE Platform.

Following the recent opening for registrations on the DestinE platform, two dedicated webpages are now available for the DestinE digital twins, implemented by ECMWF together with over 90 partner institutions across Europe. The DestinE platform, implemented by ESA, serves as the gateway to the DestinE system, providing users with services, tools and applications, enabling a better assessment of the implications of climate change and impacts of extreme events.

The two new webpages centralise the information regarding the Climate and Extremes DT developed in the DestinE initiative of the European Commission, including brief descriptions of their functionalities, data included in the DestinE data lake and ways to access it.

See the webpages on the Climate DT here and on the Extremes DT here.

The video, showcased during the launch event of the DestinE system at the LUMI supercomputer in Finland, offers a comprehensive overview of how this complex system operates, guiding viewers through the process of running a high-resolution simulation with the Climate Adaptation Digital Twin. It highlights the various steps involved in the novel workflow that drive the Climate Twin’s activation when simulating the planet’s evolution.

The Climate DT and Extremes DT are powered by the world-class supercomputing facilities of the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking along with some of the leading European models and are run at km-scale resolutions. The new webpages explain their features, highlight the models used, the simulations carried out so far, and provide factsheets for further in-depth information. The pages also give an overview of how to access the digital twin data via the DestinE platform, including concrete examples how to make use of the data.

By using state-of-the-art storm-resolving and eddy-rich models, such as ICON, IFS-NEMO, and IFS-FESOM, the Climate DT produces highly detailed simulations of the Earth system at resolutions of 5 to 10 kilometers, both regularly and on-demand to explore plausible future scenarios and what if questions. These simulations span past and future decades, offering insights into how the climate and the weather might evolve in the coming decades.

By using ECMWF’s Integrated Forecasting System for its global component, and the ACCORD models for its regional component, the Extremes DT provides a capability to produce tailored simulations and address what-if scenarios related to extreme events in a past, present and future climate.

These webpages are essential starting points for exploring the potential of the DestinE digital twins for understanding and addressing challenges related to climate change and weather extremes, by complementing existing sources of weather and climate information at national and European level.

Destination Earth is a European Union funded initiative launched in 2022, with the aim to build a digital replica of the Earth system by 2030. The initiative is being jointly implemented by three entrusted entities: the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) responsible for the creation of the first two ‘digital twins’ and the ‘Digital Twin Engine’, the European Space Agency (ESA) responsible for building the ‘Core Service Platform’, and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), responsible for the creation of the ‘Data Lake’.   

We acknowledge the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking for awarding this project strategic access to the EuroHPC supercomputers LUMI, hosted by CSC (Finland) and the LUMI consortium, Marenostrum5, hosted by BSC (Spain) Leonardo, hosted by Cineca (Italy) and MeluXina, hosted by LuxProvide (Luxembourg) through a EuroHPC Special Access call. 

More information about Destination Earth is on the Destination Earth website and the EU Commission website.  

For more information about ECMWF’s role visit ecmwf.int/DestinE   

For any questions related to the role of ECMWF in Destination Earth, please use the following email links:   

General enquiries   

Press and Communications enquiries 

© Title image: pixabay / wikilmages