Cloud/Web-based Advanced Modeling and Simulation Turnkey High-Performance Computing Environment for Surface and Subsurface Science

For some time, energy and environmental scientists and engineers have recognized the essential nexus of energy and water where we often use water to produce energy, and we require energy for environmental cleanup. Our nation's water resources are under extreme pressure. The advanced modeling and simulation of the surface and subsurface science are critical to the sustainable management of these resources. For example, better understanding and predicting contaminant fate and transport in natural and engineered systems obtained from advanced modeling and simulation are crucial for designing cost-effective remediation. In general, the introduction of advanced modeling and simulation practices over the last several decades have proven to produce better products, more quickly, and at a reduced cost. Despite these successes, there are significant barriers to the widespread adoption of these tools. By its dependency on high-performance computing (HPC), advanced modeling and simulation is complicated to use, need in-house expertise, and involves large capital expenditures. Cost is a significant factor, but, to a greater extent, the underlying problem is the complexity required to employ advanced modeling and simulation. It’s this complexity that has made the return on investment, based on the initial and recurring costs, an argument against using advanced modeling and simulation at most small- to medium-sized firms. Many environmental engineering and environmental consulting firms, or other manufacturing and engineering firms with equally complex workflows, cannot afford to contend with the overarching complexity nor deal with the capital outlays. Our proposal intends to simplify advanced modeling and simulation of surface and subsurface science with a turnkey HPC cloud/web-based environment, which leverages ParFlow, to enable the seamless exploration of issues related to water resources without complications. We plan to blend a mixture of existing and new components into a value-added, HPC cloud/web-based environment that leverages our simulate-as-you-go approach to guide end-users through complex HPC workflows for surface and subsurface science. Simple and effective advanced modeling and simulation processes can reduce costs and improve productivity for environmental engineering and environmental consulting firms, and other manufacturing and engineering firms with equally complex workflows.