Parallel Validation Tools for Fusion Simulations

Numerical simulations play a critical role in exploration of new experimental regimes needed for design and operation of new fusion devices such as ITER. Hence, simulations must be carefully validated against experiments. Validation of fusion codes is overly difficult due to incompatibilities of data representation used in simulations and experiments, and the workflow issues that arise when the codes run remotely at leadership class computing facilities. There is a need for tools that would standardize and streamline the routine portion of the overall validation efforts by taking advantage of modern data formats, available network tools, and by better exploiting available and upcoming supercomputing resources. Tech-X therefore proposes to develop a data standard to describe data from a subset of fusion codes and diagnostics allowing their validation, implement common data and format transformations needed for merging these simulation and diagnostics data, and enable composing workflows for running the related synthetic diagnostics in local and remote high-performance environment. Prototype standards for describing GYRO and NIMROD data and BES and Soft X-Ray diagnostics data were developed using a self described data format (HDF5). Methods for simplifying the workflow for synthetic diagnostic calculation for GYRO/BES and NIMROD/Soft X-Ray were explored. Methods for integrating these methods into an established visualization tool (VisIt) were examined. Commercial applications and other benefits: The software infrastructure built in this project will streamline validation of fusion codes against experiment. It could bring Tech-X consulting business opportunities with companies such as General Atomics and international customers involved in fusion projects (ITER, KSTAR, and JT-60). The GUI and data transformation library also add value to the commercial plasma physics codes developed at Tech-X