[CIG-ALL] CIG Newsletter March 2012 - Workshops, XSEDE, Feedback Requested

Tue Mar 13 08:49:35 PDT 2012

UPCOMING CIG WORKSHOPS:

****June 18-22, 2012   Crustal Dynamic Modeling Workshop, Colorado School
of Mines, Golden, Colorado

Workshop on computational models addressing the seismic cycle across single
and multiple events. The workshop blends science talks on case studies from
particular faulting environments and on key rheological behavior with
discussions of current obstacles to crustal deformation modeling.

The first two days of the workshop will be tutorials (Day 1: intermediate,
Day 2: advanced) followed by three days of science talks, discussions, and
informal tutorials and collaboration. We expect to be able to provide
reimbursement for a portion of the costs incurred for registered attendees
with official appointments at U.S. institutions. There will be no
registration fees.

Please Register Here:
http://www.geodynamics.org/cig/community/workinggroups/short/workshops/CDM2012

*****July 28-August 1, 2012  Mantle Convection and Lithospheric Dynamics
Workshop , University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 
This 4th CIG sponsored workshop on the dynamics of the lithosphere and
mantle will focus on scientific and methodological advancements in the use
of computational tools for studying deformation of the deep earth.
Technical issues of particular interest are:
•	AMR 
•	Robust energy and Stokes' equations solvers 
•	Interface of mantle and lithospheric dynamics to other processes
including melting and faulting 
•	Implementation of multi-scale physics 
Workshop will have a balance between scientific presentations, technical
discussions, hands-on opportunities and benchmark discussions.
We expect that we can accommodate up to 90 participants and provide at
least partial financial compensation for US based applicants.
We are currently trying to determine interest for planning purposes. If you
are interested in attending this workshop, please fill out the following
interest form.

http://geodynamics.org/cig/community/workinggroups/mc/workshops/MantLith2012/infopage

If you have any questions about the workshop itself, please contact the
Workshop Chair, Dr. Peter van Keken, at keken--at--umich.edu.

HOLD THE DATE

*****July 15-17, 2013,  Seismic Imaging of Structure and Source, University
of Alaska, Fairbanks.

Please hold the date for a joint workshop between CIG and QUEST.  This
workshop is a follow up to the CIG/SPICE workshop of 2007,that was held in
Jackson, NH.  QUEST is the second generation of SPICE, and more information
on the organization can be found here: www.quest-itn.org.  CIG will be
sending out more information closer to the date of the meeting. 

If you’d like to learn more about the previous workshop, click here:
http://www.geodynamics.org/cig/community/workinggroups/seismo/workshops/spice07

We have set up a webpage to register interest.
http://geodynamics.org/cig/community/workinggroups/seismo/workshops/CIGQUEST/quest2013

If you have any preliminary questions, please contact Ariel at
ariel at geodynamics.org.

*****COMMUNITY INTEREST WORKSHOP
CIG has received information for a non-affiliated workshop that may be of
interest to the broader CIG community.

December 16-20, 2012, 1st International Conference on Frontiers in
Computational Physics: Modeling the Earth System, Boulder, Colorado

Computational science complements the classical paradigm of theory and
observation, and leads where neither is available. In particular,
computational models play an essential role in diagnosis and prognosis of
all elements of the Earth System, from solar variablity through space
weather, geomechanics, terrestrial climate and weather, down to ground
water flow. This inaugural four-day Conference on Frontiers in
Computational Physics will provide a forum for exchanging and sharing
experiences, knowledge and on advanced computational techniques, methods,
and models for simulation of the Earth System.With computational aspects in
focus, the physical emphasis is on natural problems that are complex,
coupled and multiscale.

More information can be found here:
http://www.frontiersincomputationalphysics.com/

EARTHSCOPE STRATEGIC PLAN

Dear EarthScope Colleagues,

I would like to invite you to visit and read the “Preliminary Strategic
Plan for EarthScope Cyberinfrastructure” which is being released today in
draft form for your comment.

Cyberinfrastructure (CI) is an essential component of EarthScope and is
used for an enormous range of activities from the vertical integration of
data from field sensors all the way to the horizontal integration of data
and information across numerous geoscience disciplines. The EarthScope
community has long identified that our available cyberinfrastructure needs
to be dramatically enhanced to address the challenging interdisciplinary
problems requiring the manipulation and integration of many different data
and information types. This plan, prepared by the EarthScope
Cyberinfrastructure Subcommittee, is an attempt to help us move a shared
vision of cyberinfrastructure forward.

It is perhaps not coincidental that our community’s desire to strongly
push toward enhancing CI coincides with the NSF decision to move toward
developing EarthCube, which you may have heard of. Many of the goals of
EarthCube and the CI requirements of EarthScope overlap. In the preliminary
plan, we look at EarthCube and how the EarthScope community can both take
advantage of and contribute to this new opportunity.

Please visit the plan at:
http://earthscope.asu.edu/?q=content/preliminary-strategic-plan-earthscope-cyberinfrastructure.

We would also encourage you to comment on the document after you’ve
registered on the above Wiki site. The committee will consider all of your
comments when we draft a final version of the plan for the EarthScope
Steering Committee. Comments will be accepted until April 30th.
Thanks so much for your input into this important community activity.

Mike Gurnis
Chair
EarthScope Cyberinfrastructure Subcommittee

NEW CIG INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERS:

Please welcome the following member to CIG: 
University of Rochester,  representative is Cynthia Ebinger

We also have two new foreign affiliates:
University of Bristol,  representative is James Wookey
Cardiff University, representative is J. Huw Davies

A full listing of CIG member institutions can be found here:
http://geodynamics.org/cig/community/institution

If your institution would like to join CIG, we have a simple application
process here:
http://geodynamics.org/cig/community/institution/institutional-mem-apply

Institutional Members have voting rights to allow other member
institutions, as well as elect members of the Science Steering Committee
and Executive Committees of CIG.  Foreign Affiliates do not have voting
rights, but their feedback on CIG activities is welcomed.  

XSEDE ALLOCATION – INFORMATION/RENEWAL
CIG has an allocation on the XSEDE (formerly TeraGrid), primarily on the
Ranger and Lonestar machines. We also have CIG code installed on the CSA as
well should members wish to use them as part of the allocation.  

If you are interested in using the CIG community allocation, please submit
an application here:
http://geodynamics.org/cig/software/portals/csa/allocation-application
The process has changed slightly, so users must first set up an account at
xsede.org.  Once your XSEDE account is active, we will then be able to add
you to the allocation.

We also have Seismological portal – utilizing SPECFEM -  that allows you
to make runs via our portal. 

http://geodynamics.org/cig/software/portals/specfem3d	

We are also looking to renew our allocation with XSEDE in June. However, we
will need information from the community as to research you may have
conducted with our allocation to back up our request.  If allocation users
could send a paragraph detailing work (perhaps an image if you would like),
we can add that to our justification.

Please send your paragraph to ariel at geodynamics.org, with “Allocation”
in the subject. Also include your contact information/citation information,
and a caption if sending an image. 

The other issue we’d like feedback on is the usefulness of the allocation
itself.  Is it a resource that you have used, tried to use? Is there ways
to make it more user friendly? Are there limits inherent to XSEDE’s
cluster or queue process that makes it difficult to use? 

If you would like to comment please send that feedback to
ariel at geodynamics.org, with the subject “XSEDE Feedback”

HIRING:
Eric Heien has been hired as Lead Programmer for the CIG Project.   He is
currently working on the ASPECT mantle convection code. His previous work
was the development of Virtual California. 

BYLAWS UPDATE APPROVED
The Executive Community, based on the voting of the CIG membership, has
approved the revised bylaws for CIG.  They can be viewed here. 
http://geodynamics.org/cig/community/documents/bylaws2012/view

AGU FALL MEETING

We’d like to thank everyone for making CIG’s presence at the AGU a
success. We received abstracts from a variety of disciplines that focused
on CIG code research, and were able to provide a centralized list for
anyone interested in seeing the posters/talks at the AGU.

http://geodynamics.org/cig/community/documents/agu2011

We also got a good deal of traffic at CIG’s NSF Street booth as well. If
you were someone who first heard of CIG at the booth, and decided to
download some of our codes – we’d love to hear from you.

If you passed by the booth – let us know what you think – what would
you have liked to see? 

We had some “pseudo Office Hours”, where CIG developers were at the
booth, and available to answer any questions you might have on a particular
code. Is this something the community would like see happen again for next
year?

-- 
Ariel Shoresh
Administrator, Computational Infrastructure for Geodynamics
University of California, Davis
One Shields Avenue
Davis, CA 95616
530-752-2889
ariel at geodynamics.org