The DYAMOND initiative (DYnamics of the Atmospheric general circulation Modelled On Non-hydrostatic Domains) is a framework for the intercomparison of global storm-resolving models, an emerging class of state-of-the-art atmospheric circulation models.

HRCM has played a key role in developing the simulation protocols across each phase of DYAMOND and in the organisation of recent global and national hackathons to develop the technologies and research communities required by km-scale global modelling.

DYAMOND addresses three main questions:

• Where do storm-resolving simulations agree, and where do they provide deeper insights into the climate system?
• How sensitive are the simulations to specific model implementations?
• What are the performance and analysis bottlenecks associated with global storm-resolving models?

Models that have participated in at least one DYAMOND phase: ARPEGE NH, GEOS, GRIST, ICON, IFS, MPAS, NICAM, SAM, SCREAM, SHiELD, Unified Model (UM).

DYAMOND Summer (phase 1)

Simulation period: 1 August 2016 – 10 September 2016 (10-day spin-up period and 30 days for analysis)

Field experiment alignment: NARVAL2 tropical field study

Experiment: global atmosphere models with storm-resolving grid spacing of 5 km or less. As initial and boundary data, daily sea-surface temperatures as well as a global meteorological analysis taken from the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) are provided.

Science highlight: Judt, F., …, Vannière, B., …, Vidale, P. L., et al. Tropical Cyclones in Global Storm-Resolving Models. Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan. Ser. II 99, 579–602, (2021).

DYAMOND Winter (phase 2)

Simulation period: 20 January 2020 - 1 March 2020 (with 10 day spin-up period and 30 days for analysis)

Field experiment alignment: EUREC4a field study

Experiment: global atmosphere-only and coupled atmosphere-ocean models with a storm resolving grid spacing of 5 km or less. Initial data for 20 Jan 2020 and SST and sea-ice boundary data.

DYAMOND Year (phase 3)

DYAMOND Year, or DYAMOND3, simulations are part of the 2025 WCRP Digital Earths km-scale hackathon.

Experimental protocol: Takasuka, D., … Vidale, P. L., et al. A protocol and analysis of year-long simulations of global storm-resolving models and beyond. Progress in Earth and Planetary Science 11, 66 (2024).

Science highlights: Gettelman, A., Vidale, P. L., et al. Hacking Kilometer-Scale Models: A Participative Model for Climate Information. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 107, E1586–E1598 (2026).