Keywords

ZeroMQ, message passing, agricultural modelling, HPC

Start Date

25-6-2018 2:00 PM

End Date

25-6-2018 3:20 PM

Abstract

In the field of agricultural and environmental research different kinds of models are in use and current efforts are undertaken to assemble them into ever more complex systems to support decision making, evaluate climate change adaptation strategies or learn about possible impacts of land-use change. While in the past these systems were usually built in a monolithic manner, the connected world of today enables us to rethink this approach. Using two examples from the agricultural domain, we show how complex systems can be flexibly designed by integrating models via message passing interfaces. We discuss our experience in using the ZeroMQ library to enable our scientists to run large regional-scale simulations on high-performance computers, quickly comply with simulation protocols, meet deadlines and still being able to debug their software. A second example demonstrates how the same architecture can be used to couple a complex agro-ecosystem model (MONICA) to an irrigation advisory system (WEB-BEREST). Looking into the future and extrapolating the consequences of applying the message passing/flow-based paradigm into the field of environmental software, we identify opportunities for improved scientific cooperation between research institutions and working groups.

Stream and Session

Stream A: Advanced Methods and Approaches in Environmental Computing

A1: Towards More Interoperable, Reusable and Scalable Environmental Software

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Jun 25th, 2:00 PM Jun 25th, 3:20 PM

Experiences with ZeroMQ, message passing and flow-based software architectures in agricultural modelling

In the field of agricultural and environmental research different kinds of models are in use and current efforts are undertaken to assemble them into ever more complex systems to support decision making, evaluate climate change adaptation strategies or learn about possible impacts of land-use change. While in the past these systems were usually built in a monolithic manner, the connected world of today enables us to rethink this approach. Using two examples from the agricultural domain, we show how complex systems can be flexibly designed by integrating models via message passing interfaces. We discuss our experience in using the ZeroMQ library to enable our scientists to run large regional-scale simulations on high-performance computers, quickly comply with simulation protocols, meet deadlines and still being able to debug their software. A second example demonstrates how the same architecture can be used to couple a complex agro-ecosystem model (MONICA) to an irrigation advisory system (WEB-BEREST). Looking into the future and extrapolating the consequences of applying the message passing/flow-based paradigm into the field of environmental software, we identify opportunities for improved scientific cooperation between research institutions and working groups.