The production of actionable Earth system science relies on effective communication of regional data and its associated uncertainties across sectors. To be of value beyond academic circles, these datasets must be sufficiently credible (i.e., physically grounded), understandable (communicated in the vocabulary of the decision-makers), and salient for the particular decisions that need to be made. Comprehensive assessment of both dynamical and statistical Earth system models adds substantial value to their outputs, particularly when the evaluation criteria are the product of a two-way dialogue between scientists and end-users. Substantial progress has now been made on developing comprehensive frameworks for data assessment that incorporate process-oriented, feature-specific, and use-inspired metrics. These efforts have been particularly advanced over the continental U.S. (CONUS) under the Department of Energy HyperFACETS Project. Our efforts will (1) advance our understanding of processes at the Earth-water-energy-land-decision interface, and (2) fundamentally improve our ability to perform credible coupled Earth-human system modeling of particular regions. Specifically, the HyperFACETS project aims to address these questions:

How much can we trust given Earth system information for decision-making? And how can we ensure its saliency?

For an overview of our engagement activities under HyperFACETS check out our executive summary on Developing Use-Inspired Climate Science for Water Management.

To learn more, check out our research activities.

With representation from these institutions: