FAQ
The CCMC aims to satisfy the middle- to long-range requirements of space weather-related science and operations. For more details, see the CCMC Concept of Operations document [PDF]. In that spirit the mission and goal of the CCMC are as follows:
Mission: To enable, support, and perform research for next generation space science and operational space weather models through an interagency partnership.
Goal: Develop and execute next generation research models in support of the advancement of space sciences and deployment of new operational space weather capabilities.
The CCMC was established to enhance basic solar-terrestrial research and to aid in the development of models for specifying and forecasting conditions in the space environment.
The CCMC fills a long-standing gap between the space weather research community and the operational arms of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Department of Defense (DoD) which is responsible for providing space weather services to a large customer base. At the present time, both NOAA and DoD have created Rapid Prototyping Centers (RPC's), which serve to implement space weather models at their respective operational centers in Boulder, Colorado and Omaha, Nebraska. The CCMC will assemble, validate, and test space weather models that can eventually be transferred to the RPC's to adapt for operational use.
The CCMC is a jointly-funded federal interagency organization. NASA is a major participant in this activity. The CCMC's central site is located at NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC).
Although the CCMC is organizationally comprised of United States federal agencies, CCMC services are open to members of the international science community.
Whenever possible, CCMC representatives attend international workshops and conferences to report the status of CCMC activities and describe opportunities for international collaboration. Every effort will be made to maintain active and open collaboration with the international science community in compliance with present and future federal regulations.
See our Partners list.
CCMC staffing levels are set by participating agencies commensurate with CCMC tasking. Our staff consists of a combination of heliophysics scientists, software engineers, and hardware/infrastructure engineers. For our current list of staff, please see our staff page.
The CCMC is a multi-agency organization comprised of eight government offices representing four Federal agencies (DoD, NASA, NOAA, NSF). The CCMC is a component of the National Space Weather Program overseen by the CCMC Steering Committee. The day-to-day operations are managed by the CCMC director who is a GSFC civil servant, in conjunction with the CCMC Staff comprised of NASA civil servants, contractors, postdoctoral fellows funded by the participating agencies, and visitors engaged in CCMC activities.
The CCMC hosts it's own computational resources in-house at GSFC. CCMC in-house architecture includes high-performance computing (HPC) clusters, Linux servers, and dedicated storage systems. In addition, the CCMC has access to and can use the computation resources provided by the Pleiades Supercomputer. Most recently, the CCMC has started prototyping and extending our computation resources via the Amazon Web Services (AWS).
The CCMC staff is performing research tasks for the express purpose of model validation. The CCMC Steering Committee sets CCMC research policies.
The CCMC is always interested in hearing from talented individuals who wish to support our mission. For information on available opportunities, contact Dr. Maria Kuznetsova.
At the present time, the intention is to hold biennial meetings for the purpose of close communications with both researchers and operators. In addition, CCMC may hold meetings addressing other aspects of model transition to operations, or in support of the research community.
Upcoming meetings are advertised in the scientific newsletters, as well as on the CCMC website. Please contact CCMC to receive meeting notifications.
The CCMC is open to everyone. CCMC services are targeted toward space weather research and operational communities. At the present time, there are no limitations on their use. The CCMC hopes to add education and public outreach sections to the website in the future to more directly address space weather issues of interest to the general public.