Purpose
- Generate GrADS and/or Vis5D input files from WRF ARW output files
- All WRF ARW geogrid, metgrid, input and output files (real and idealized data) can be converted
- This package used WRF IO API, so file format is not restricted to netCDF files
(netCDF had been tested extensively, while some limited tested has been with GRIB1 files.
Binary files does not currently work)
- Create the corresponding .ctl and .dat files (GrADS) or .v5d file (Vis5D)
- Version 2.0 release April 4, 2008
Necessary Software to run Scripts
- Obtain the ARWpost TAR file from the WRF
Download page
- It you plan to convert WRF ARW data to GrADS, you will also need the GrADS software:
You can download and install GrADS from
http://grads.iges.org/grads/
GrADS libraries are not needed to compile and run ARWpost, but is needed to display the graphics
- It you plan to convert WRF ARW data to Vis5D, you will also need the Vis5D software:
You can download and install Vis5D from
http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/~billh/vis5d.html
Vis5D libraries ARE needed to compile and run ARWpost, as well as to display the graphics
- If you do not plan to convert data to Vis5D format, you do NOT need the Vis5D libraries.
Hardware
Compiler flags are available for the following machine (not all has been tested fully):
- DEC Alpha
- Linux (PGI & INTEL compilers)
- Sun
- SGI
- IBM
- Mac (xlf compilers)
Steps to Compile and Run the Code
- Unzip and untar the ARWpost TAR file -
you will have the following files:
-rw-r--r-- 1 wrfhelp users 5534 Dec 18 12:23 README
drwxr-xr-x 2 wrfhelp users 512 Dec 18 12:23 arch/
-rwxr-xr-x 1 wrfhelp users 966 Dec 18 12:23 clean*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 wrfhelp users 733 Dec 18 12:23 compile*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 wrfhelp users 4257 Dec 18 12:23 configure*
-rw-r--r-- 1 wrfhelp users 12 Dec 18 12:23 fields.plt
-rw-r--r-- 1 wrfhelp users 15626 Dec 18 12:23 gribinfo.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 wrfhelp users 54446 Dec 18 12:23 gribmap.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 wrfhelp users 19 Dec 18 12:23 myLIST
-rw-r--r-- 1 wrfhelp users 1653 Dec 18 12:23 namelist.ARWpost
drwxr-xr-x 2 wrfhelp users 512 Dec 18 12:23 scripts/
drwxr-xr-x 2 wrfhelp users 1536 Dec 18 12:23 src/
drwxr-xr-x 2 wrfhelp users 512 Dec 18 12:23 util/
- Configure
The code has been written to conform to the configure/compile patterns or WRFV2 and WPS
WRFV2 MUST be installed somewhere on your system
Type:
./configure
You will see a list of options for your computer (below is an example for a Linux machine)
Will use NETCDF in dir: /usr/local/netcdf-pgi
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please select from among the following supported platforms.
1. PC Linux i486 i586 i686, PGI compiler (no vis5d)
2. PC Linux i486 i586 i686, PGI compiler (vis5d)
3. PC Linux i486 i586 i686, Intel compiler (no vis5d)
4. PC Linux i486 i586 i686, Intel compiler (vis5d)
Enter selection [1-4] :
- Make sure the netCDF path is correct.
- Pick compile options for your machine (if you do not have Vis5D, or if you do not plan on using it,
pick an option without Vis5D libraries)
- Compile
If your WRFV2 code is not compiled under ../WRFV2, edit configure.arwp,
and set "WRF_DIR"
to the correct location of your WRFV2 code
Type:
./compile
This will create the ARWpost.exe executable
- Edit the namelist.ARWpost:
- set times to be processed (&datetime)
- set input and output file names and variables to be processed (&io)
io_form_input: 2=netCDF, 5=GRIB1
input_root_name: Path and root name of files to use as input.
All files starting with the root name will be processed.
output_root_name: Output root name
plot: Which fields to process.
Options are - all, basic, list, file, basic_file, basic_list, list_file, all_file, all_list, basic_list_file, all_list_file
If "list" is used, a list of variables must be supplied under "fields"
If "file" is used, a list of variables must be added to a file, and the filename supplied under "fields_file
fields: fields to plot
fields_file: file name which contain list of fields to plot
output_type: Options are 'grads' (default) or 'v5d'
mercator_defs: Set to true if mercator plots are distorted
Available diagnostics: height ,theta ,tc, tk, td, rh, umet, vmet, pressure, dbz, max_dbz,
u10m, v10m, slp, mcape, mcin, lcl, lfc, cape, cin, clfr, wdir, wspd, wd10, ws10
- set levels to interpolate too (&interp)
interp_method: 0=sigma levels, -1=code defined "nice" height levels, 1=user defined height or pressure levels
interp_levels: Only used if interp_method=1
Supply levels to interpolate to, in hPa (pressure) or km (height)
Supply levels bottom to top
- for extra information regarding the namelist.ARWpost file, refer to the README file
- Run
Type
./ARWpost.exe
- This will create output_root_name.dat
and output_root_name.ctl files if creating GrADS input file, and
output_root_name.v5d, if creating Vis5D files.
NOW YOU ARE READY TO VIEW THE OUTPUT
GrADS
For general information about working with GrADS, view the GrADS home page: http://grads.iges.org/grads/
To help users get started a number of grads
scripts have been provided:
- The scripts are all available in the scripts/ directory.
- The scripts provided are only examples
of the type of plots one can generate with GrADS data.
- The user will need to modify these script to suit their data
(Example, if you did not specify 0.25 km and 2 km
as levels
to interpolate to when you run the "bwave" data through the
converter, the "bwave.gs" script will
not display any plots,
since it will specifically look for these to levels).
- Scripts must be copied to the location of the input data.
- GENERAL SCRIPTS:
cbar.gs
Plot color bar on shaded plots (from GrADS home page)
rgbset.gs
Some extra colors (Users can add/change colors from color
number 20 to 99)
skew.gs
Program to plot skewT (modified version of function as found
on
http://www.ems.psu.edu/~bryan/mm5/grads/)
TO RUN TYPE: run skew.gs (needs pressure level TC,TD,U,V as
input)
User will be prompted if a hardcopy of the plot must be create
- 1 for yes and 0 for no.
If 1 is entered a GIF image will be created.
Need to enter lon/lat of point you are interested in
Need to enter time you are interested in
Can overlay 2 different times
plotALL.gs
Once you have opened a GrADS window, all one needs to do is run this script.
It will automatically find all .ctl files in the current directory and list them so one can pick which file to open.
Then the script will loop through all available fields and plot the ones a user requests.
- SCRIPTS FOR REAL DATA:
real_surf.gs
Plot some surface data
Need input data on model levels
plevels.gs
Plot some pressure level fields
Need model output on pressure levels
rain.gs
Plot total rainfall
Need a model output data set (any vertical coordinate), that
contain fields "RAINC" and "RAINNC"
cross_z.gs
Need z level data as input
Will plot a NS and EW cross section of RH and T (C)
Plots will run through middle of the domain
zlevels.gs
Plot some height level fields
Need input data on height levels
Will plot data on 2, 5, 10 and 16km levels
input.gs
Need WRF INPUT data on height levels
- SCRIPTS FOR IDEALIZED DATA:
bwave.gs
Need height level data as input
Will look for 0.25 and 2 km data to plot
grav2d.gs
Need normal model level data
hill2d.gs
Need normal model level data
qss.gs
Need height level data as input.
Will look for heights 0.75, 1.5, 4 and 8 km to plot
sqx.gs
Need normal model level data a input
sqy.gs
Need normal model level data a input
Trouble Shooting
The code executes correctly, but you get "NaN" or "Undefined Grid" for all fields
when displaying the data.
Look in the .ctl file.
a) If the second line is:
options byteswapped
Remove this line from your .ctl file and try to display the data again.
If this SOLVES the problem, you need to remove the -Dbytesw option from the configure.arwp file.
b) If the line below does NOT appear in your .ctl file:
options byteswapped
ADD this lines as the second line in the .ctl file.
Try to display the data again.
If this SOLVES the problem, you need to ADD the -Dbytesw option for the configure.arwp file.
The line "options byteswapped" is often needed on some computers (DEC alpha as an example).
It is also often needed if you run the converter on one computer and use another
to display the data.
Vis5D
For general information about working with Vis5D, view the Vis5D home page: http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/~billh/vis5d.html
