Open-Source Framework For Earth System Digital Twins Applied to Surface Water Hydrology

An Earth System Digital Twin (ESDT) is a dynamic, interactive, digital replica of the state and temporal evolution of Earth systems. It integrates multiple models along with observational data, and connects them with analysis, AI, and visualization tools. Together, these enable users to explore the current state of the Earth system, predict future conditions, and run hypothetical scenarios to understand how the system would evolve under various assumptions. The NASA Advanced Information Systems Technology (AIST) program’s Integrated Digital Earth Analysis System (IDEAS) project partners with the Space for Climate Observatory (SCO) (https://www.spaceclimateobservatory.org/) FloodDAM Digital Twin effort led by CNES to establish an extensible open-source framework to develop digital twins of our physical environment for Earth Science with an initial focus on surface water hydrology in Earth’s rivers and lakes. The joint effort delivers an open-source system architecture with mechanisms for the outputs of one model to feed into others, for driving models with observation data, and for harmonizing observation data and model outputs for analysis. Water resource science is multidisciplinary in nature, and it not only assesses the impact from our changing climate using measurements and modeling, but it also offers opportunities for science-guided, data-driven decision support. The joint effort uses flood prediction and analysis as its primary use case. The work presents a multi-agency joint effort to define and develop a federated Earth System Digital Twin solution between NASA and CNES that powers advanced immersive science and custom user applications for scenario-based analysis.