ACCESS-AIS3 documentation

ACCESS-AIS3 is an open community whole-Antarctic configuration of the Ice-sheet and Sea-level System Model (ISSM) for the ACCESS climate model suite. This site explains how the repository is organized, how its model workflows fit together, and where to find the operational guidance.

Scope: these pages are a manually maintained guide to the project. They do not import or execute workflow scripts to generate API documentation. For pyISSM’s API and installation instructions, use the pyISSM documentation.

Start here

The development record dashboard remains the project website homepage; this documentation guide is published alongside it.

Architecture: the model-building path and the separate HO and SSA tracks.
Repository layout: where maintained code, inputs, outputs, and records live.
Workflow map: stage responsibilities, inputs, outputs, and status caveats.
Running on Gadi: the job model and safe step selection.
Validation and science notes: how to interpret results and where detailed evidence lives.
Contributing and documentation: safe ways to change workflows and maintain this site.
Development record: project status dashboard and investigation records.

The short version

The repository is organized around scripts that configure and run pyISSM models, not around a reusable Python package. The main HO pipeline is in config/ais_0.1.py; the separate pure-SSA pipeline is in config/ais_0.1_SSA.py. Both use config/ais_0.1_param.py as the parameterization reference, but the SSA driver is deliberately self-contained and does not import the HO driver.

The model inputs are assembled from the geometry and constraints in assets/ plus datasets accessed through ccdtools. A PBS launcher starts a driver job; pyISSM then submits the ISSM computation. Model checkpoints and execution files are written under models/ and execution directories, rather than being part of the documentation source.

assets + external datasets
            |
            v
  domain -> mesh -> parameterized model
            |
            +--> SSA inversion -> SSA historical run -> SSA projections
            |
            +--> SSA initialization -> HO thermal/inversion -> melt/relaxation
                                                        -> HO historical/projections

Project status

The project is in active development. Pipeline stages do not all have the same maturity; some are validated, some are experimental, and some remain scaffolds. Treat the development record and dated worklogs as status snapshots, not as a guarantee that every output is production-ready.