Last week, from May 12th to May 16th, the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) brought together more than 600 people to participate in the first global climate modelling hackathon, building upon the experiences gained throughout the preceding nextGEMS hackathons. Other initiatives, such as WarmWorld, EERIE, Destination Earth, and ESMO supported this endeavour.

During the hackathon, teams from Europe, Southeast Asia, Australia, and North and South America gathered at 10 different locations, the so-called nodes, to collaborate, exchange, and advance research in kilometer-scale climate modeling.

One of the nodes was hosted by the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology (MPI-M) in Hamburg. Here, over 120 participants were welcomed by Bjorn Stevens, director of the institute’s Climate Physics Department, who stressed the importance of exchanging and collaborating between different generations of climate scientists.

In this spirit, the participants spent the week collaborating with local “Science Teams” and gaining insights into a variety of research topics, using data from the newest runs of the ICON and IFS–FESOM models. The group “Energetics of Tropical Rainbelts”, led by Hans Segura, for example, worked on extracting the spectrum of convective coupled equatorial waves and Paulina Czarnecki’s team examined the high cloud top temperatures in storm resolving models to compare them between different models. A list of all of the topics investigated at the Hamburg node can be found here.

Previous to the hackathon, the scientists were encouraged to participate in a plotting challenge to get acquainted with the new model outputs and available data. This type of challenge was developed throughout previous nextGEMS hackathons to motivate participants’ creativity and generate interesting plots about phenomena of their choice. Below you can find a collection of the submissions. Can you guess, which plot won the challenge this time around?

During the hackathon, the groups were supported by a dedicated Data Support Team, made up of scientific programmers, data scientists, and model developers from the German Climate Computing Centre (DKRZ), the MPI-M, ECMWF, and AWI. This technical support group was also a feature that proved to be very helpful during previous nextGEMS hackathons.

Internationally, the different nodes stayed connected through virtual meetings, joint chat groups, and so-called cross-cutting activities. The latter focused on technical skills or data sources, useful for addressing a range of scientific questions and acting as a connector between scientists working on different topics.

However, our participants did more than hack and research together. They also had the opportunity to network and attend various side events throughout the week. For instance, Prof. Caroline Muller from the Institute of Science and Technology in Austria (ISTA) gave an inspiring keynote on the characteristics of deep convective storm systems, as well as the environmental and internal processes driving their growth. Some of the most attractive activities organized at the hackathon were the visits to the wind tunnel of the Hamburg University and DKRZ’s supercomputer Levante.

On the final day, each group presented their work, highlighting their results, lessons learned, and future research activities. Henning Franke’s group, consisting of Theresa Mieslinger, Hartmuth Borth, Chao Li, Quan Liu, Frederik Vieira Fischer, and Lianet Hernández Pardo, tested the hypothesis that mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) over tropical oceans are often triggered by mesoscale surface wind convergence. They looked at the evolution of surface temperature, precipitation, and how the wind converged and diverged at low levels — before and right after marine storms formed in the models. Their work showed how different models captured phenomena that impact storm formation. An animation of the mean precipitation flux and wind convergence up to 10 hours before the storm was detected can be found here. Going forward, the group wants to work on improving their code, extend the analysis to all simulations and to other trackers, and explore and deepen the connections of their work with other groups.

Concluding the event with a full-circle moment, Bjorn Stevens led a lively discussion around the concept of hackathons for the climate modelling community. Specifically, noting how such a format can and should be used beyond nextGEMS to boost intense networking and facilitate cooperation for better km-scale models while providing tools that support the users’ interaction with these models. 

A newly formed thematic group focused on renewable energy participated in “The Final Countdown” Hackathon, which took place in Stockholm, Sweden, from March 24th to 28th, 2025. The event brought together climate scientists and private stakeholders from the renewable energy sector, such as Statkraft AS from Norway, Vestas Wind Systems AS from Denmark, and Anemos from Germany. In total, seven participants were part of this group that sought after ways to use nextGEMS data for renewable energy applications.

The renewable energy group focused on extreme winds, among other aspects, by looking at how they will change during the years until 2050. Extreme wind is associated with different weather events and phenomena, such as tropical cyclones or storms. Emilie Byermoen, a team member from the Norwegian firm Starkraft, pointed out their work at the hackathon was based on experimentation, as the participants tried to test possible real-world future scenarios with the models. For instance, by warming the ocean temperatures and observing how that will influence wind patterns in the years ahead — an exercise of special relevance considering the raising temperatures of our planet.

As the stakeholders attempted to discover how to use the nextGEMS in real planning for 20, 30, or 40 years ahead, climate scientists like Lukas Brunner contributed to the group, assisting with data and technical support for the industry representatives. Since nextGEMS data is new, very domain-specific, and large in volume, collaboration between diverse experts was advantageous, according to Brunner. 

For Starkraft representative Emilie Byermoen, “talking with the scientists about the problems they encounter when they work with the nextGEMS data, just chatting to get their opinion on its quality and what it is useful for” was very valuable. “It is something you would not get if you send an email, but rather from informal interactions,” she emphasized.

Indeed, one of the main challenges within the renewable energy team was understanding the data. “There are many specific technical aspects that I didn’t understand, although I am used to work with similar formats, but not this exact one,” Byermoenexplained. Nevertheless, the nextGEMS data seemed to hold great potential. For instance, in the case of wind speeds and rain, looking at extreme levels in the future is specially beneficial to observe at higher resolutions than traditional climate models. 

Despite its complexities, the nextGEMS models offer increased spatial resolution at 10, 5, and even less kilometers, unlike typical models that have 100 or even 200 km-scale resolutions. “I think this is what excites the industry partners about the data: for them 100 km is way too coarse to look at wind speeds or assess wind turbines placements, probably that is not a very helpful scale,” Brunner added.

After four days of hacking and collaborating together, March 28th, 2025, marked the final session of „The Final Countdown“ hackathon in Stockholm. Focused on the possible applications of Storm-Resolving Earth System Models (SR-ESM) in the renewable energy sector, this was also the last hackathon of the nextGEMS project. Some extraordinary accomplishments were made during the past 5 years since the start of this visionary project. The group was, for example, able to create 10, 5, and 2 kilometer-scale runs, and are close to release runs with a resolution of 1 kilometer. However, nothing stands out more than the solid and compromised community nextGEMS has built up through the years: talented and curious people working together to push forward high-resolution climate modeling and understanding the possibilities it comprises for a warming and changing planet.

The last hackathon day involved a small plot contest, won by scientist Matthias Aengenheyster from the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). His visual shows wind gust speed and 2-minute averaged precipitation in an area around Japan for the coupled IFS-FESOM model simulation at 2.8 km resolution. Near the bottom, a tropical cyclone is approaching Japan, while another one near the top is transitioning from inter-tropical to an extra-tropical cyclone as it moves to cooler latitudes.

During the closing session, the five thematic groups were able to share their advancements with the audience. For instance, the Renewable Energy group talked about their efforts to monitor wind speed shifts in the central Sweden region with nextGEMS’ climate models, where some of the stakeholder companies had placed wind turbines. In parallel, the Storms & Radiation team shared their intentions to prepare 3 thematic research papers on diverse topics, such as climate sensitivity, feedback decomposition and tropical cloud organization—the last one with a special focus on deep convective clouds.

In an engaging presentation, some of the early-career scientists and first-time hackathon attendees who participated in the Storms & Land group, provided interesting insights of the snow coverage observations in the Iberian mountain range. Similarly, the Storms & Ocean team share their observations of mesoscale ocean circulation patterns (typically between 10 to 500 km in diameter) occurring at shallow depths, as well as their interest of observing the historical future of “El Niño” phenomenon. The Storms & Society thematic group conducted several interviews during the event and disseminated a final survey with the participants to finish their work on Climate Science storylines and the impact of hackathons in knowledge co-production. 

Finally, Climate Physics Director at the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Bjorn Stevens, closed the event remarking some of the useful applications nextGEMS’ models have enabled, such as testing hypotheses underpinning climate change, studying changes at the mesoscale or blocking statistics, and the representation of hydrological extremes worldwide. Furthermore, he mentioned some of the forthcoming activities for the community, spearheaded by nextGEMS, such as the upcoming Global Hackathon taking place in May, 2025.

The nextGEMS project has entered its final phase and will come to an end in August, 2025. But before going separate ways, our project  members and partners gather one last time for the sixth nextGEMS hackathon from March 24th to 28th. In the stylish surroundings of Stockholm city, the Swedish Museum of Natural History, the largest museum of the Nordic country, hosts “The Final Countdown”. This time, the participants´ challenge is centered around how the high-resolution capabilities enabled by nextGEMS simulations can support and enhance renewable energy applications in a changing climate.

The first day kicked off with the arrival of a diverse group of scientists, stakeholders, students, and climate enthusiasts that totaled 73 registered participants. Within the museum´s classic setting, the introductory session evolved into an active and engaging conversation. Representatives from the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology (MPI-M) and the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), updated the audience on the progress being made with the simulations of the ICON and IFS-FESOM Earth System models. 

Tobias Becker, researcher from the ECMWF, presented insights on two simulations at 2.8 km resolution, produced with 14 months of new data using the IFS-FESOM model. These recent advancements add local granularity and allow to check if atmospheric phenomena previously analyzed at coarser or less detailed resolutions also show up at this higher resolution. Additionally, he reported on two 30-year simulations – historical and scenario-based – at 9 km resolution that should provide valuable information on how extreme events change in warming climate, such as tropical cyclones.

The different thematic groups—Storms & Land, Storms & Ocean, Storms & Radiation, and Storms & Society— discussed their newest achievements and upcoming challenges. Dragana Bojovic, from the Storms & Society group, for example, talked about the survey analysis from the past five hackathons, as well as of the work on renewable energy and fisheries storylines. This time, a new group joined the Stockholm hackathon: the renewable energy group. This group includes not only researchers, but also different industry stakeholders, such as people working at Vestas, Satkraft, Anemos, and local participants, addressing future energy scenarios for 2050.

To conclude the day, participants took part in an ice-breaker session, which included a micro-poster activity designed to enrich conversations and connections through the use of visualizations. Some of the first-time participants in the event, like Diego Garcia and Antonio Robles from Universidad Complutense de Madrid in Spain, shared posters illustrating their observations on historical data regarding snow coverage along the Spanish highlands and future changes in Tropical Basin interactions, created with the IFS-FESOM model.

Two months ago, from October 14 to 18, Wageningen University and Research (WUR) hosted the nextGEMS Hazard Hackathon. Nearly 80 participants from 17 countries across three continents traveled to the Netherlands for this unique event.

A New Approach to Collaboration

Unlike previous hackathons that divided participants based on the nextGEMS working groups Storms and Land, Storms and Oceans, Storms and Radiation, and Storms and Society, this event took a fresh approach. Participants were organized into challenge groups focused on specific hazard-related topics, such as efficient data handling, the energy sector, fire weather, and extreme precipitation and temperature. These groups delivered remarkable insights and visualizations. Take a look for yourself:

Highlights of the Challenges

Efficient Data Handling Challenge

Led by Lukas Brunner and Olivia Martius, this group focused on providing global extreme indices for the HEALPix zoom level 9. They developed highly detailed plots, such as a comparison of surface temperature fields from the ICON and IFS models. One visualization revealed significant discrepancies of the annual maximum temperatures (txx) between the two models that were especially pronounced in North America and Australia. These results are likely due to differences in how the models simulate land-atmosphere interactions.

Energy Production Challenge

Coordinated by Menno Veerman and Edgar Dolores-Tesillos, this team analyzed weather-dependent energy production, in particular solar and wind energy. They explored the spatial patterns of each of these around the world and found that there is more capacity to produce wind energy over the oceans than on land, and a larger solar energy capacity in regions closer to the equator. In a case study approach, the team also discovered distinct spatial patterns of solar and wind energy production across Spain. Additionally, the researchers progressed a trend analysis for the region of Spain, to assess how the energy production capacity might change over time.

Fire Weather Challenge

The team led by Ralf Hand and Chiel van Heerwaarden focused on evaluating the potential of nextGEMS models to simulate realistic fire-prone weather conditions. They also sought to identify the factors driving potential changes in wildfire risk in the future. During their work, the team successfully modeled fire weather indices (FWI) as used by DWD, and also observed that humidity trends remain constant over time. However, they noted differences in the calculations produced by the IFS and ICON models, which require further investigation. Following this hackathon, the scientists plan to rerun these calculations using higher-resolution data to better understand how coarse versus high-resolution data impacts the results.

Extreme Precipitation and Temperature Challenge

Jonathan Wille, Jasper Denissen, and Birgit Suetzl led the extreme precipitation and temperatures and urban heat challenge. This group examined the simulation of temperature and precipitation extremes at different levels, from the global to the local scale. The participants explored various topics within this broader frame, including the visualization of urban heat extremes, future changes in extreme precipitation behavior, and the connection between precipitation extremes and river runoff in alpine regions.  They found that changes in the frequency of heavy precipitation events depend on the rarity of the event and the modeling approach. For instance, a 1-in-3-year event occurs 5% more frequently in IFS simulations and 20% more frequently in ICON simulations. The researchers also discovered that these changes vary by the region in which the precipitation events occur, with heavy precipitation events in the Northern Hemisphere becoming more frequent at locations further away from the equator.

Engaging Side Events and Workshops

In addition to working on their group challenges, participants engaged in several enriching side events. Paolo Davini and Matteo Nurisso from CNR-ISAC introduced the model evaluation framework AQUA, developed as part of the Destination Earth initiative (DestinE). During a workshop on energy storylines conducted by Eulàlia Baulenas and Dragana Bojovic, participants debated which nextGEMS data would be relevant for energy industry stakeholders and how the project could help them make more informed decisions. Experts like Nuria Sanchez from Iberdrola and Hester Biemans from WUR shared captivating insights on topics such as renewable energy and food security.

The Role of Hackathons and Collaboration in Climate Research

On the final day, the Storms and Society working group presented their ongoing efforts in knowledge co-production and communication strategies. Their outputs aim to bridge research and policy-making through storylines, policy briefs, and accessible Science Explainers that communicate complex research to the public in simple terms.

Hackathons like this Hazard Hackathon foster collaboration, innovation, and knowledge sharing, as emphasized by Bjorn Stevens, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology. Stevens highlighted how nextGEMS contributes to broader climate modeling projects, including EERIE, WarmWorld, and DestinE. Thanks to the efforts of the nextGEMS community, DestinE successfully launched its system in June 2023, with its data now accessible to the nextGEMS community and the wider academic community via a newly released DestinE platform.

Inclusive Initiatives at the Event

However, not only scientific input and outcomes were at the focus of the Hazard Hackathon. The organizers also prioritized inclusivity by offering pronoun stickers for all attendees and rainbow lanyards for LGBTQIA2S+ community members and allies. These thoughtful gestures aimed to foster respect and acceptance for the diverse gender identities and sexual orientations within the nextGEMS community. For further reading on supporting the Queer community, attendees were encouraged to consult the HRC report on Being an LGBTQ+ Ally or explore resources provided by the EGU Pride group, which supports Queer individuals in geosciences and their allies.

The Future of nextGEMS: Transitioning Beyond the Project

Following three years of intensive knowledge creation, hacking, and collaboration, the nextGEMS project is now transitioning into its final phase. During the recent gathering, Bjorn Stevens initiated a discussion about the future of the nextGEMS community and its potential evolution beyond the project’s official timeline. As part of this dialogue, he announced an unprecedented event: the World Climate Research Programme Global KM-scale Hackathon.

This groundbreaking global hackathon is scheduled to take place from May 12–17, 2025, and will be hosted by multiple climate modeling institutes across the globe, including locations in Australia, Brazil, Argentina, China, Europe, India, Japan, North America, and South Africa. This unique, multi-continental approach highlights the collaborative and inclusive spirit of the climate research community.

To stay updated on the nextGEMS project and future events, including the final nextGEMS Hackathon, visit our news section and follow our social media channels.