Engineering fvGFS, a Precursor to the Next-Generation Forecast Model

fvGFS, a new global model using the GFDL Finite-Volume Cubed-Sphere dynamical core (FV3) coupled to physical parameterizations from the National Center for Environmental Prediction's Global Forecast System (NCEP/GFS), was built at GFDL.  The Advanced Computing Evaluation Committee used fvGFS as part of performance intercomparison criteria for Phase-2 of the Next Generation Global Prediction System dynamical core testing.  The testing configurations and software engineering techniques (OpenMP parallelisation, Intel HyperThreading, memory optimizations, etc.) utilized in fvGFS to achieve the operational requirements with minimal increase in resources will be discussed as a complement to the measured performance.