Space Weather Prediction and Exascale Computing

The vast interplanetary space between the Sun and the Earth is a complex coupled system, where important processes develop, from their solar origin, traveling in the solar system, and reaching the Earth and other planets. The study of these important processes affecting people and technology in space and on the ground is called space weather. In this paper, we focus here on the steps necessary for achieving a true physics-based capability to predict the potential arrival and consequences of the major space weather storms. Simulating such a system is a grand challenge, requiring computing resources at the limit of what is possible today, not only with current technology, but also with the foreseeable future generations of so called ExaScale super computers.