CSAM’s Home

This page documents the codebase for the Constrained Spectral Approximation Method (CSAM). CSAM is a physically sound and robust method for approximating the spectrum of subgrid-scale orography. It operates under the following constraints:

• Utilises a limited number of spectral modes (no more than 100)

• Significantly reduces the complexity of physical terrain by over 500 times

• Maintains the integrity of physical information to a large extent

• Compatible with unstructured geodesic grids

• Inherently scale-aware

This method is primarily used to represent terrain for weather forecasting purposes, but it also shows promise for broader data analysis applications.

Acknowledgment

This work has been made possible by the generosity of Eric and Wendy Schmidt through the Schmidt Futures Virtual Earth System Research Institute’s DataWave Project.