Proof-of-concept: Using ChatGPT to Translate and Modernize an Earth System Model from Fortran to Python/JAX

Understand

Earth system models (ESMs) are vital for understanding past, present, and future climate, but they suffer from legacy technical infrastructure.

• ESMs are primarily implemented in Fortran, a language that poses a high barrier of entry for early career scientists and lacks a GPU runtime, which has become essential for continued advancement as GPU power increases and CPU scaling slows.
• Fortran also lacks differentiability - the capacity to differentiate through numerical code - which enables hybrid models that integrate machine learning methods.
• Converting an ESM from Fortran to Python/JAX could resolve these issues.