Running GCHP: Configuration

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Overview

All default GCHP run directories are set up to run at c24 resolution with 0.25x0.325 GEOS-FP meteorology, 6 cores, and 1 node. This is the simplest possible run and a good test case for your initial setup. However, you will want to change these settings, and potentially several others, for your research runs. This page goes over how to do this.

GCHP has several configuration files, most of which end in suffix ".rc". Rather than update many files, some of which contain redundant information, we instead use utility shell script runConfig.sh to set most options in a single location. Sourcing the file automatically updates other configuration files prior to the run and eliminates the need for remembering what to update and where. However, it is important to note that that doing this will overwrite settings in other configuration files. You therefore should never manually update other configuration files unless you know the specific option is not available for setting in runConfig.sh.

All sample run scripts include sourcing runConfig.sh. When runConfig.sh is sourced it prints out information on what settings are being changed to what value and in what file. Typically this information will be stored in output log runConfig.log or it will be printed to your job scheduler log file.

You generally will not need to know more about the GCHP configuration files beyond what is listed on this page. However, for more detailed information about the configuration files used by GCHP see the last section of this user manual. If there is something you want to configure in your GCHP run that is not described on this page please contact the GEOS-Chem Support Team with feedback.

Re-using a Run Directory

Archiving a Run

One of the benefits of GCHP relative to GEOS-Chem Classic is that you can reuse a run directory for different grid resolutions and meteorology sources without recompiling. This comes with the perils of losing your old work. To mitigate this issue there is utility shell script archiveRun.sh to archive output and configuration files from your last run within a subdirectory in the run directory. All you need to do is pass a non-existent subdirectory name of your choosing where the files should be stored. Here is an example:

./archiveRun.sh c48_test

The following output is then printed to screen to show you exactly what is being archived and where:

Archiving files...
-> c48_test/build/lastbuild
-> c48_test/build/compile.log
-> c48_test/config/input.geos
-> c48_test/config/CAP.rc
-> c48_test/config/ExtData.rc
-> c48_test/config/fvcore_layout.rc
-> c48_test/config/GCHP.rc
-> c48_test/config/HEMCO_Config.rc
-> c48_test/config/HEMCO_Diagn.rc
-> c48_test/config/HISTORY.rc
-> c48_test/restarts/gcchem_internal_checkpoint_c24.nc
-> c48_test/logs/compile.log
-> c48_test/logs/gchp.log
-> c48_test/logs/HEMCO.log
-> c48_test/logs/PET00000.GEOSCHEMchem.log
-> c48_test/logs/runConfig.log
-> c48_test/logs/slurm-50168021.out
-> c48_test/run/runConfig.sh
-> c48_test/run/gchp.run
-> c48_test/run/gchp.ifort17_openmpi_odyssey.bashrc
Warning: *.multirun.sh not found
Complete!

There is a file structure within the archive directory automatically set up to store files of various typed (e.g. logs files in the logs subdirectory). This particular archived run was a single segment run (single job) which is why there is a warning about a multirun file being missing. This can be ignored.

Cleaning the Run Directory

If you do not want to save your last run you can discard its remnants by doing "make cleanup_output". All sample bashrc files have an alias for this, "mco", to make it easier to do. Here is an example of output printed when cleaning the run directory:

rm -f /n/home08/elundgren/GC/testruns/12.0.0/Aug01/gchp_RnPbBe/OutputDir/*.nc4
rm -f trac_avg.*
rm -f tracerinfo.dat
rm -f diaginfo.dat
rm -f cap_restart
rm -f gcchem*
rm -f *.rcx
rm -f *~
rm -f gchp.log
rm -f HEMCO.log
rm -f PET*.log
rm -f runConfig*log
rm -f multirun.log
rm -f logfile.000000.out
rm -f slurm-*
rm -f 1
rm -f EGRESS

Rerunning Without Cleaning

You can reuse a run directory without cleaning it and without archiving your last run. Files will generally simply be replaced by files generated in the next run. This will work okay with one exception. The output cap_restart file must be removed prior to subsequent runs if you are starting a run from scratch. The cap_restart file contains a date and time string for the end of your last run. GCHP will attempt to start your next run at this date and time if the file is present. This is useful for splitting up a run into multiple jobs but is generally not desirable. Therefore you should always delete cap_restart before a new run. This is included in all sample run scripts except the multi-run run script which has special handling of the file.

Pre-run Checklist

Prior to running GCHP, run through the following checklist to ensure everything is set up properly.

Your run directory contains the executable geos.
All symbolic links are present in your run directory and point to a valid path. These include TileFiles, MetDir, MainDataDir, ChemDataDir, CodeDir, and an initial restart file.
The input meteorology resolution in ExtData.rc (inspect with "grep MetDir ExtData.rc") and MetDir (inspect with "file MetDir") are as you intend.
File runConfig.sh has all run settings that you intend to use.
The restart file grid resolution matches the cubed sphere resolution set in runConfig.sh
You have a run script. See runScriptSamples/ for examples. gchp.run is the most basic example.
The resource allocation in runConfig.sh and your run script are consistent.
The run script sources the bashrc file that you used for compiling GCHP.
File cap_restart is not present in the run directory. If it is present, you can manually delete it or do "make cleanup_output" to remove files from your previous run. If you want to save files from your previous run, you can use the archiveRun.sh script to save them prior to cleaning up the run directory (e.g. ./archive_run.sh my_saved_run)

Run Configuration Options

Set Number of Nodes and Cores

To change the number of nodes and cores for your run you must update settings in two places: (1) runConfig.sh, and (2) your run script.

Set Cubed Sphere Grid Resolution

Changing your grid resolution involves simply changing the "CS_RES" parameter in runConfig.sh.

Change Input Meteorology Grid Resolution and/or Source

Changing input meteorology requires two updates: (1) redefine the MetDir symbolic link to point to the appropriate source directory, and (2) update all meteorology paths and filenames in ExtData.rc. Currently only GEOS-FP and MERRA2 meteorology are supported in GCHP. Be sure that you have data available at the grid resolution you wish to run at for time period you plan on simulating. See the primary GEOS-Chem wiki page for information on meteorology data available.

Change Your Initial Restart File

All GCHP run directories come with symbolic links to initial restart files for commonly used cubed sphere resolutions. The appropriate restart file is automatically chosen based on the cubed sphere resolution you set in runConfig.sh. All of the restart files are simply GEOS-Chem Classic restart files regridded to the cubed sphere.

Unlike GEOS-Chem Classic, HEMCO restart files are not used in GCHP. HEMCO restart variables may be included in the initial species restart file, or they may be excluded and HEMCO will start with default values. GCHP initial restart files that come with the run directories do not include HEMCO restart variables unless "HEMCO" appears in the filename. This is only the case for the benchmark restart files used for the 1-year benchmark simulation that relies on a valid spin-up.

You may over-write the default restart file with your own by specifying the restart filename in runConfig.sh. Beware that it is your responsibility to make sure it is the proper grid resolution. Publicly available tools for regridding are listed in the GCHP Output Files page of this user manual.

Output Restart Files at Regular Frequency

While most of the GCHP run-time options are set from runConfig.sh, the option for outputting restart files beyond the usual end-of-run restart file is not. This is simply because the default setting of every 30 days is usually adequate. To change this frequency, update the HHmmSS string for "RECORD_FREQUENCY" in file GCHP.rc. Minutes and seconds must each be two digits but hours can be more than two.

Turn On/Off Model Components

You can turn all primary GEOS-Chem components, including type of PBL mixing, from within runConfig.sh. The settings in that file will update input.geos automatically.

Change Model Timesteps

Model timesteps, both chemistry and dynamic, are configured within runConfig.sh. They are set to match GEOS-Chem Classic default values for comparison purposes but can be updated, with caution. Read the documentation in runConfig.sh for setting them to be fully aware of recommended settings and their implications.

Set Simulation Start and End Dates

Set simulation start and end in runConfig.sh. There is also a "DURATION" field in the file which must be set to reflect how long your run will last. If your end date is earlier than your start date plus duration then your GCHP run will fail. If your end date is later than your start date plus duration then your job will not make it to your configured end date; it will end at start date plus duration. If your end date is multiple durations past your start date then subsequent job submissions will start where your last run ended, so long as you do not delete file cap_restart. That file contains a new start string that will always be used if the file is present. You can take advantage of this file for splitting up a long simulation into multiple jobs. See further down on this page for automation of this task built into the run directory.

Typically a "CAP" error indicates a problem with start, end, and duration settings. If you encounter an error with the words "CAP" near it then double-check that these settings make sense.

Turn On/Off Diagnostics

All GCHP have four collections on by default: time-averaged species concentrations, instantaneous species concentrations, time-averaged meteorology, and instantaneous meteorology. All species are enabled while only a subset of meteorology variables are enabled. There are several other collections already implemented but they are off by default for the standard and benchmark simulations, and on by default for the RnPbBe simulation.

To turn collections on or off, comment ("#") collection names in the "COLLECTIONS" list at the top of file HISTORY.rc. Once a collection is turned on, you can comment diagnostics within it further down in the file by searching for the collection name with ".fields" suffix. Be aware that you cannot comment out the diagnostic that appears on the same line as the fields keyword. If you wish to suppress that specific diagnostic then move it to the next line and replace it with a diagnostic that you want to output.

Set Diagnostic Frequency, Duration, and Mode

All diagnostic collections that come with the run directory have frequency, duration, and mode defined within runConfig.sh. With the exception of SpeciesConc_inst and StateMet_inst, all collections are time-averaged (mode) with frequency and duration set to the simulation length you specified in CopyRunDirs.input when creating the run directory. Any of these defaults can be over-written by editing runConfig.sh. Be aware that manual updates of HISTORY.rc will be over-written by runConfig.sh settings.

Add a New Diagnostics Collection

Adding a new diagnostics collection in GCHP is the same as for GEOS-Chem Classic netcdf diagnostics. You must add your collection to the collection list in HISTORY.rc and then define it further down in the file. Any 2D or 3D arrays that are stored within State_Met, State_Chm, or State_Diag, and that are successfully incorporated into the GEOS-Chem Registry may be included as fields in a collection. State_Met variables must be preceded by "met_", State_Chm variables must be preceded by "chm_", and State_Diag variables should not have a prefix. See GeosCore/state_diag_mod.F90 for examples of how existing State_Diag arrays are implemented.

Once implemented, you can either incorporate the new collection settings into runConfig.sh for auto-update, or you can manually configure all settings in HISTORY.rc.

Split a Simulation Into Multiple Jobs

There is an option to split up a single simulation into separate serial jobs. To use this option, do the following:

Update runConfig.sh with your full simulation (all runs) start and end dates, and the duration per segment (single run). Also update the number of runs options to reflect to total number of jobs that will be submitted. Carefully read these parts of runConfig.sh to ensure you understand how it works.
Use gchp.multirun.run as your run script, or adapt it if your cluster does not use SLURM. As with the regular gchp.run, you will need to update the file with compute resources consistent with runConfig.sh and with your local bashrc. It is located in the runScriptSamples subdirectory of your run directory. Note that you should not submit the run script directly. It will be done automatically by the file described in the next step.
Use gchp.multirun.sh to submit your job, or adapt it if your cluster does not use SLURM. It is located in the runScriptSamples subdirectory of your run directory.

There is much documentation in the headers of both gchp.multirun.run and gchp.multirun.sh that is worth reading and getting familiar with. If you have not done so already, it is worth trying out a simple multi-segmented run of short duration to demonstrate that the multi-segmented run configuration and scripts work on your system. For example, you could do a 3 hour simulation with 1 hour duration and number of runs equal to 3.

Besides the regular GCHP log file, which will be appended to for each consecutive run, there will be a "multirun.log" file with high-level information such as the start, end, duration, and job ids for all jobs submitted. Inspect this and your other log files, as well as output in the OutputDir/ directory prior to using the monthly diagnostics option.

Generate Monthly Mean Diagnostics

There is an option to automatically generate monthly diagnostics by submitting month-long simulations as separate jobs. Splitting up the simulation into separate jobs is a requirement for monthly diagnostics because MAPL History requires a fixed number of hours set for diagnostic frequency and file duration. The monthly mean diagnostic option automatically updates HISTORY.rc</rr> diagnostic settings each month to reflect the number of days in that month taking into account leap years.

To use the monthly diagnostics option, first read and follow instructions for splitting a simulation into multiple jobs (see section above). Prior to submitting your run, enable monthly diagnostics in <tt>gchp.multirun.run by searching for variable "Monthly_Diag" and changing its value from 0 to 1. Be sure to read the documentation surrounding the monthly diagnostic option in that file to be sure you understand what you are doing and are meeting all the requirements.

Debug Using Maximum Print Output

Besides compiling with "make compile_debug", there are a few run settings you can configure to booster your chance of successful debugging. All of them involve sending additional print statements to the log files.

You can change "ND70" in input.geos from 0 to 1 to turn on extra GEOS-Chem print statements in the main log file.
You can set the "DEBUG" variable in runConfig.sh to a number greater than 0 to turn on extra MAPL print statements. The higher the number the more prints will be sent to the log (and the slower your run will be). Usually 20 is sufficient, although you can go higher.
You can set the "Verbose" and "Warnings" settings in HEMCO_Config.rc to maximum values of 3 to send the maximum number of prints to HEMCO.log.

None of these options require recompiling. Be aware that all of them will slow down your simulation. Be sure to set them back to the default values after you are finished debugging.

Change Domains Stack Size

For runs at very high resolution or small number of processors you may run into a domains stack size error. This is caused by exceeding the domains stack size memory limit set at run-time and will be apparent in your log file. If this occurs you can increase the domains stack size in file input.nml. The default is set to 20000000.

Turn Off MAPL Timers and Memory Logging

Your GCHP log file will includes timing and memory information by default, and this is usually a good thing. If for some reason you want to turn these features off you can do so in file CAP.rc. Search for "MAPL_ENABLE_TIMERS" and "MAPL_ENABLE_MEMUTILS" and simply change "YES" to "NO".

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