The Flux Coupler code was developed to serve several functions within the NCAR Climate System Model (CSM):

• It allows the CSM to be broken down into separate components, atmosphere, sea-ice, land, and ocean, that are "plugged into" the Flux Coupler. Each component model is a separate code that is free to choose it's own spatial resolution and time step. Individual components can be created, modified, or replaced without necessitating code changes in other components. CSM components run as separate executables, communicate via message passing (MPI in particular), and can be distributed among several computers.
• It controls the execution and time evolution of the complete CSM by controlling the exchange of information between the various components.
• It computes interfacial fluxes between the various component models (based on state variables) and distributes these fluxes to all component models while insuring the conservation of fluxed quantities.

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