Coastal Modeling Cloud Sandbox

The IOOS Coastal Modeling Cloud Sandbox was developed to support research and development by providing a virtual environment where coastal models and code can be tested and run in the cloud. Rather than relying on limited on-premises and other super-computing resources, Sandbox users can leverage abundant cloud resources to run models and develop new code. A powerful and open virtual environment, the Sandbox harnesses a cloud-based HPC system, allowing users to clone the associated Github repository and deploy the Sandbox with their own AWS account or submit a request for deployment in particular use cases.

Not only does the Sandbox ensure that the limitations of super computers (e.g., machine availability, time, upfront costs, technical expertise, and others) are virtually non-existent, it also benefits the broader ocean sciences community by providing another means to run experiments, process large quantities of data, and transition researchers’ work from experimentation to operations.

The Sandbox has been used to run the operational versions of the NOSOFS ROMS and FVCOM Models, the LiveOcean model from the University of Washington, as well as ESMF Coupled WRF/ROMS and ADCIRC hurricane test cases. The Cloud Sandbox is ideal for use within the ocean and atmospheric science community, such as by the IOOS Regional Associations, universities, students, scientists, and researchers, as well as for use across industries, being inclusive to those who want to develop, enhance, and run coastal models.

To learn more about how to use the Sandbox, read our Get Started page, explore the GitHub repository, and dive into our Read.Me documentation.

Don’t forget to keep a close eye on this space, as well – we’ll soon be posting helpful tutorials, customization tips, and answering your FAQs!