<s>
The	O
Earth	B-Application
System	I-Application
Modeling	I-Application
Framework	I-Application
(	O
ESMF	B-Application
)	O
is	O
open-source	B-Application
software	I-Application
for	O
building	O
climate	B-Application
,	O
numerical	B-General_Concept
weather	I-General_Concept
prediction	I-General_Concept
,	O
data	O
assimilation	O
,	O
and	O
other	O
Earth	O
science	O
software	B-Application
applications	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
applications	O
are	O
computationally	O
demanding	O
and	O
usually	O
run	O
on	O
supercomputers	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ESMF	B-Application
is	O
considered	O
a	O
technical	O
layer	O
,	O
integrated	O
into	O
a	O
sophisticated	O
common	B-Application
modeling	I-Application
infrastructure	I-Application
for	O
interoperability	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
aspects	O
of	O
interoperability	O
and	O
shared	O
infrastructure	O
include	O
:	O
common	O
experimental	O
protocols	O
,	O
common	O
analytic	O
methods	O
,	O
common	O
documentation	O
standards	O
for	O
data	O
and	O
data	O
provenance	O
,	O
shared	O
workflow	B-Operating_System
,	O
and	O
shared	O
model	O
components	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ESMF	B-Application
project	O
is	O
distinguished	O
by	O
its	O
strong	O
emphasis	O
on	O
community	O
governance	O
and	O
distributed	B-Application
development	I-Application
,	O
and	O
by	O
a	O
diverse	O
customer	O
base	O
that	O
includes	O
modeling	O
groups	O
from	O
universities	O
,	O
major	O
U.S.	O
research	O
centers	O
,	O
the	O
National	O
Weather	O
Service	O
,	O
the	O
Department	O
of	O
Defense	O
,	O
and	O
NASA	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ESMF	B-Application
development	O
team	O
was	O
centered	O
at	O
NCAR	O
until	O
2009	O
,	O
after	O
which	O
it	O
moved	O
to	O
the	O
NOAA	O
Earth	O
System	O
Research	O
Laboratory	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Editing	O
Earth	B-Application
System	I-Application
Modeling	I-Application
Framework	I-Application
is	O
free	B-Application
software	I-Application
released	O
under	O
the	O
University	B-License
of	I-License
Illinois/NCSA	I-License
Open	I-License
Source	I-License
License	I-License
.	O
</s>
<s>
ESMF	B-Application
increases	O
the	O
interoperability	O
of	O
Earth-science	O
modeling	O
software	O
developed	O
at	O
different	O
sites	O
and	O
promotes	O
code	O
reuse	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ESMF	B-Application
is	O
based	O
on	O
principles	O
of	O
component-based	B-Architecture
software	I-Architecture
engineering	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
components	O
within	O
an	O
ESMF	B-Application
software	B-Application
application	I-Application
usually	O
represent	O
large-scale	O
physical	O
domains	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
atmosphere	O
,	O
ocean	O
,	O
cryosphere	O
,	O
or	O
land	O
surface	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
ESMF	B-Application
,	O
components	O
can	O
create	O
and	O
drive	O
other	O
components	O
so	O
that	O
an	O
ocean	O
biogeochemistry	O
component	O
can	O
be	O
part	O
of	O
a	O
larger	O
ocean	O
component	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
ESMF	B-Application
,	O
couplers	O
are	O
also	O
software	B-Architecture
components	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
ESMF	B-Application
represents	O
user	O
data	O
in	O
the	O
form	O
of	O
data	O
objects	O
such	O
as	O
grids	O
,	O
fields	O
,	O
and	O
arrays	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
user	O
data	O
within	O
a	O
component	O
may	O
be	O
copied	O
or	O
referenced	O
into	O
these	O
ESMF	B-Application
objects	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Once	O
user	O
data	O
is	O
part	O
of	O
an	O
ESMF	B-Application
data	O
object	O
,	O
framework	O
methods	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
transform	O
and	O
transfer	O
the	O
data	O
as	O
required	O
to	O
other	O
components	O
in	O
the	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Grid	O
interpolation	O
and	O
remapping	O
are	O
core	O
utilities	O
of	O
ESMF	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Interpolation	O
weights	O
can	O
be	O
generated	O
in	O
ESMF	B-Application
using	O
bilinear	O
interpolation	O
,	O
finite	O
element	O
patch	O
recovery	O
,	O
and	O
conservative	O
remapping	O
methods	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ESMF	B-Application
can	O
associate	O
metadata	O
with	O
data	O
objects	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
metadata	O
,	O
in	O
the	O
form	O
of	O
name	O
and	O
value	O
pairs	O
,	O
is	O
grouped	O
into	O
packages	O
,	O
which	O
can	O
be	O
written	O
out	O
in	O
XML	B-Protocol
and	O
other	O
standard	O
formats	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ESMF	B-Application
metadata	O
packages	O
are	O
based	O
on	O
community	O
conventions	O
including	O
the	O
Climate	B-Application
and	O
Forecast	O
Metadata	O
Conventions	O
and	O
the	O
METAFOR	O
Common	O
Information	O
Model	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ESMF	B-Application
collaboration	O
had	O
its	O
roots	O
in	O
the	O
Common	B-Application
Modeling	I-Application
Infrastructure	I-Application
Working	O
Group	O
(	O
CMIWG	O
)	O
,	O
an	O
unfunded	O
,	O
grass-roots	O
effort	O
to	O
explore	O
ways	O
of	O
enhancing	O
collaborative	O
Earth	O
system	O
model	O
development	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
CMIWG	O
attracted	O
broad	O
participation	O
from	O
major	O
weather	O
and	O
climate	B-Application
modeling	I-Application
groups	O
at	O
research	O
and	O
operational	O
centers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
a	O
series	O
of	O
meetings	O
held	O
from	O
1998	O
to	O
2000	O
,	O
CMIWG	O
members	O
established	O
general	O
requirements	O
and	O
a	O
preliminary	O
design	O
for	O
a	O
common	O
software	B-Architecture
framework	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
September	O
2000	O
,	O
the	O
NASA	O
Earth	O
Science	O
Technology	O
Office	O
(	O
ESTO	O
)	O
released	O
a	O
solicitation	O
that	O
called	O
for	O
the	O
creation	O
of	O
an	O
ESMF	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
focused	O
on	O
development	O
of	O
the	O
core	O
ESMF	B-Application
software	O
,	O
the	O
second	O
on	O
deployment	O
of	O
Earth	O
science	O
modeling	O
applications	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
third	O
on	O
deployment	O
of	O
ESMF	B-Application
data	O
assimilation	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
the	O
ESMF	B-Application
project	O
gained	O
momentum	O
,	O
it	O
replaced	O
the	O
CMIWG	O
as	O
the	O
focal	O
point	O
for	O
developing	O
community	O
modeling	O
infrastructure	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
the	O
period	O
of	O
NASA	O
funding	O
,	O
the	O
ESMF	B-Application
team	O
developed	O
a	O
prototype	O
of	O
the	O
framework	O
and	O
used	O
it	O
in	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
experiments	O
that	O
demonstrated	O
coupling	O
of	O
modeling	O
components	O
from	O
different	O
institutions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ESMF	B-Application
was	O
also	O
used	O
as	O
the	O
basis	O
for	O
the	O
construction	O
of	O
a	O
new	O
model	O
,	O
the	O
Goddard	B-Application
Earth	I-Application
Observing	I-Application
System	I-Application
(	O
GEOS	O
)	O
atmospheric	O
general	B-Application
circulation	I-Application
model	I-Application
at	O
NASA	O
Goddard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
funding	O
cycle	O
for	O
ESMF	B-Application
neared	O
,	O
its	O
collaborators	O
wrote	O
a	O
project	O
plan	O
that	O
described	O
how	O
ESMF	B-Application
could	O
transition	O
to	O
an	O
organization	O
with	O
multi-agency	O
sponsorship	O
for	O
its	O
next	O
funding	O
cycle	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Major	O
new	O
five-year	O
grants	O
came	O
from	O
NASA	O
,	O
through	O
the	O
Modeling	O
Analysis	O
and	O
Prediction	O
(	O
MAP	O
)	O
program	O
for	O
climate	B-Application
change	O
and	O
variability	O
,	O
and	O
from	O
the	O
Department	O
of	O
Defense	O
Battlespace	O
Environments	O
Institute	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
smaller	O
ESMF-based	O
application	O
adoption	O
projects	O
were	O
funded	O
in	O
domains	O
as	O
diverse	O
as	O
space	O
weather	O
and	O
sediment	O
transport	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Also	O
at	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
funding	O
cycle	O
,	O
the	O
ESMF	B-Application
collaborators	O
wrote	O
a	O
white	O
paper	O
on	O
future	O
directions	O
for	O
the	O
ESMF	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
paper	O
formed	O
the	O
basis	O
for	O
a	O
proposal	O
to	O
NSF	O
to	O
combine	O
ESMF	B-Application
(	O
and	O
other	O
software	B-Architecture
frameworks	I-Architecture
)	O
with	O
data	O
services	O
to	O
create	O
a	O
computational	O
environment	O
that	O
supports	O
an	O
end-to-end	O
modeling	O
workflow	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2008	O
,	O
a	O
project	O
manager	O
was	O
appointed	O
for	O
the	O
National	B-Application
Unified	I-Application
Operational	I-Application
Prediction	I-Application
Capability	I-Application
(	O
NUOPC	O
)	O
,	O
a	O
joint	O
project	O
for	O
weather	O
prediction	O
of	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
Navy	O
,	O
the	O
National	O
Weather	O
Service	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
Air	O
Force	O
.	O
</s>
