GEOS-Chem nested grid simulations

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GEOS-Chem v11-02-final will also carry the designation GEOS-Chem 12.0.0. We are migrating to a purely numeric versioning system in order to adhere more closely to software development best practices. For a complete description of the new versioning system, please see our GEOS-Chem version numbering system wiki page.

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This page contains some basic information pertaining to the GEOS-Chem nested grid simulations. For more detailed information about met data availability for the various geographic regions, please see our Available met data for nested grid simulations wiki page. We also invite you to visit the wiki page of the Nested Model Working Group, which is responsible for coordinating nested-grid simulations within the GEOS-Chem user community.

Please also see our protocol for downloading and processing nested grid met data, which outlines the responsibilities for user groups using GEOS-Chem nested grid simulations.

Frequently asked questions

Can I run a nested grid simulation with GEOS-FP meteorology?

Yes! You can run GEOS-Chem nested grid simulations at the native GEOS-FP horizontal resolution of 0.25° x 0.3125° for the following regions:

1. China/SE Asia region
2. North America region
3. European region

--Melissa Sulprizio 16:17, 18 November 2014 (EST)

GEOS-FP nested-grid simulations for v10-01

Bastien Sauvage wrote:

I would be interested in running GC v11 in nested mode over Europe during summer 2013 (with GEOS_FP). However I am not sure this is possible as emissions and restart le seem not to be available in 0.3x0.2 over Europe? Is there a way to perform this simulation?

Lizzie Lundgren replied:

Starting in GEOS-Chem v10-01 you do not need to use separate emissions files with resolutions matching those of the European grid. The HEMCO emissions component can read global emissions and regrid them on-the-fly to the size of the nested grid. All you need to do is make sure you have the HEMCO data directories available. We do not have a European nested grid restart file available. However, you can contact the Nested Working Group to see if anyone has one to share. You could also try to use REGRIDH_RESTART in GAMAP to regrid from a coarser resolution. Alternatively, you can use the GAMAP routine called MAKE_EUR_DATA in the regridding directory of GAMAP.

--Bob Yantosca (talk) 15:40, 28 April 2017 (UTC)

How can I find which data are available for nested grid simulations?

Please see our Available met data for nested grid simulations wiki page. You can download the data from either the Harvard or Dalhousie data archives via FTP (or the wget utility).

--Bob Y. 14:09, 15 November 2010 (EST)

What if I can't find the GEOS-FP met data that I need?

If you cannot find the GEOS-FP nested grid met data for your particular geographic region of interest or time period of interest, then we invite you to download and process the met data yourself. Please see our GEOS-5 nested grid data protocol document for more information.

--Bob Y. 14:13, 15 November 2010 (EST)

Where can I find out more info about nested grid errors?

Please see the

• Previous issues that are now resolved and
• Outstanding issues that are not yet resolved

posts on the Setting up GEOS-Chem nested grid simulations wiki page.

--Bob Y. 14:22, 15 November 2010 (EST)

I noticed abnormal concentrations at boundaries of the nested region. Is that normal?

If you see high tracer concentrations right at the boundary of your nested grid region, then this may be normal.

For nested grid simulations, we have to leave a “buffer zone” (i.e. typically 3 boxes along each boundary) in which the TPCORE advection is not applied. However, all other operations (chemistry, wetdep, drydep, convection, PBL mixing) will be applied. Therefore, in the “buffer zone”, the concentrations will not be realistic because the advection is not allowed to transport the tracer out of these boxes.

In any case, the tracer concentrations in the “buffer zone” will get overwritten by the 2° x 2.5° or 4° x 5° boundary conditions at the specified time (usually every 3h).

Therefore, you should exclude the boxes in the “buffer zone” from your scientific analysis.

The following diagram illustrates this:

 <-------------------------------------- IGLOB ---------------------->

 +-------------------------------------------------------------------+   ^
 | GLOBAL REGION                                                     |   |
 |                                                                   |   |
 |                       <-------------- IIPAR ------------->        |   |
 |                                                                   |   |
 |                       +=================================[Y]  ^    |   |
 |                       |  WINDOW REGION (met field size)  |   |    |   |
 |                       |                                  |   |    |   |
 |                       |      <------- IM_W ------->      |   |    |   |
 |                       |      +--------------------+  ^   |   |    |   |
 |                       |      |  TPCORE REGION     |  |   |   |    |   |
 |                       |      |  (advection is     |  |   |   |    |   |
 |<------- I0 ---------->|<---->|   done in this     | JM_W | JJPAR  | JGLOB
 |                       | I0_W |   window!!!)       |  |   |   |    |   |
 |                       |      |                    |  |   |   |    |   |
 |                       |      +--------------------+  V   |   |    |   |
 |                       |        ^                         |   |    |   |
 |                       |        | J0_W                    |   |    |   |
 |                       |        V                         |   |    |   |
 |                      [X]=================================+   V    |   |
 |                                ^                                  |   |
 |                                | J0                               |   |
 |                                V                                  |   |
[1]------------------------------------------------------------------+   V

Diagram notes:

1. The outermost box (GLOBAL REGION) is the global grid size. This region has IGLOB boxes in longitude and JGLOB boxes in latitude. The origin of the "Global Region" is at the south pole, at the lower left-hand corner (point [1]).
2. The next innermost box (WINDOW REGION) is the nested-grid window. This region has IIPAR boxes in longitude and JJPAR boxes in latitude. This is the size of the trimmed met fields that will be used for a "nested-grid" simulation.
3. The innermost region (TPCORE REGION) is the actual area in which TPCORE advection will be performed. Note that this region is smaller than the WINDOW REGION. It is set up this way since a cushion of grid boxes is needed TPCORE Region for boundary conditions.
4. I0 is the longitude offset (# of boxes) and J0 is the latitude offset (# of boxes) which translate between the "Global Region" and the "Window Region".
5. I0_W is the longitude offset (# of boxes), and J0_W is the latitude offset (# of boxes) which translate between the WINDOW REGION and the TPCORE REGION. These define the thickness of the Buffer zone mentioned above.
6. The lower left-hand corner of the WINDOW REGION (point [X]) has longitude and latitude indices (I1_W, J1_W). Similarly, the upper right-hand corner (point [Y]) has longitude and latitude indices (I2_W, J2_W).
7. Note that if I0=0, J0=0, I0_W=0, J0_W=0, IIPAR=IGLOB, JJPAR=JGLOB specifies a global simulation. In this case the WINDOW REGION totally coincides with the "Global Region".
8. In order for the nested-grid to work we must save out concentrations over the WINDOW REGION from a coarse model (e.g. 2° x 2.5° or 4° x 5°) corresponding to the same fine-resolution WINDOW REGION. These concentrations are copied along the edges of the 1x1 WINDOW REGION and are thus used as boundary conditions for TPCORE.

Can I read nested grid met field files directly with GAMAP?

Yes, but you will have to call GAMAP with one of the following keywords:

 gamap, ... /China    ;; For China nested grid
 gamap, ... /NAmer    ;; For N. America nested grid
 gamap, ... /Eur      ;; For Europe nested grid

Otherwise you will get an error such as:

Attempt to read past end of FORTRAN unformatted file record. unit: 20.

You will also need to supply these keywords if you are using one of the lower-level GAMAP routines to read the data, for example:

ctm_get_data, ... /China

success = ctm_get_datablock( ..., /China )

etc.

Can I run a nested grid simulation with MERRA meteorology?

No. At present we are only saving out the MERRA met data product at 4° x 5° and 2° x 2.5° horizontal resolutions.

--Bob Y. 13:55, 15 November 2010 (EST)

Setting up a 0.5 x 0.667 nested-grid simulation for GEOS-5

Visit our Setting up GEOS-Chem nested grid simulations wiki page for detailed instructions on how to set up a 0.5° x 0.667° nested grid simulation with GEOS-5 meteorology.

--Bob Y. 13:37, 15 November 2010 (EST)

Setting up a 0.25 x 0.3125 nested-grid simulation for GEOS-FP

Visit our Setting up GEOS-Chem nested grid simulations wiki page for detailed instructions on how to set up a 0.25° x 0.3125° nested grid simulation with GEOS-FP meteorology.

--Melissa Sulprizio 16:17, 18 November 2014 (EST)

Obsolete information

Setting up a 1 x 1 nested grid simulation with GEOS-3

GMAO no longer produces GEOS-3 data. GEOS-Chem v9-01-03 (released on 12 Sep 2014) and higher versions no longer support the GEOS-3 met data.

GEOS-3 nested grid simulations are only supported in GEOS-Chem v8-03-01 and earlier versions. In those versions, you can perform a GEOS-3 nested-grid simulation for one of the following regions:

• GEOS-3 1x1, China nested grid
• GEOS-3 1x1, North America nested grid

--Melissa Sulprizio 16:17, 18 November 2014 (EST)

Here is a check list and input.geos file that you need to run the nested-grid China simulation (supplied by Yuxuan Wang):

define.h

These are the settings you need to make in the GEOS-Chem define.h file:

#define GEOS_3      'GEOS_3'
#define GRID1x1     'GRID1x1'
#define NESTED_CH   'NESTED_CH'
#define GRID30LEV   'GRID30LEV'

input.geos

These are the settings you need to make in the GEOS-Chem input.geos file:

Saving out 4 x 5 boundary conditions

You will have to run the global model at 4 x 5 resolution to save out the transport boundary conditions. Here are the relevant settings in input.geos:

%%% SIMULATION MENU %%% :
Start YYYYMMDD, HHMMSS  : 20010101 000000
End   YYYYMMDD, HHMMSS  : 20020101 000000
Run directory           : ./
Input restart file      : restart.YYYYMMDDhh
Make new restart file?  : F
Output restart file(s)  : restart.YYYYMMDDhh
Root data directory     : /data/ctm/GEOS_4x5/
 => GCAP       subdir   : AGRID/YYYY/MM/
 => GEOS-3     subdir   : GEOS_3/YYYY/MM/
 => GEOS-4     subdir   : GEOS_4_v4/YYYY/MM/
 => GEOS-5     subdir   : GEOS_5/YYYY/MM/
Dir w/ 1x1 emissions etc: /data/ctm/GEOS_1x1/
Temporary directory     : TEMP/
Unzip met fields?       : T
Wait for met fields?    : T
Use variable tropopause : N
Global offsets I0, J0   : 0 0

 ... 

%%% TRANSPORT MENU %%%  :
Turn on Transport       : T
 => Use Flux Correction?: F
 => Fill Negative Values: T 
 => IORD, JORD, KORD    : 3  3  7
Transport Timestep [min]: 30  
Use strat O3/NOy BC's   : T

...

%%% CONVECTION MENU %%% :
Turn on Cloud Conv?     : T
Turn on PBL Mixing?     : T
Convect Timestep (min)  : 30

...

%%% NESTED GRID MENU %%%:  
Save TPCORE 4x5 BC's    : T
TPCORE 4x5 BC directory : /as/home/ctm/yxw/bc/bc_ozone_std/
4x5 BC timestep [min]   : 180
LL box of 4x5 BC region :  51  21
UR box of 4x5 BC region :  67  37
1x1 offsets I0_W, J0_W  :   3   3

1x1 nested grid simulation

Then once you have saved out the 4 x 5 boundary conditions you can do the 1 x 1 nested grid simulation. Here are the appropriate settings in input.geos:

%%% SIMULATION MENU %%% :
Start YYYYMMDD, HHMMSS  : 20010301 000000
End   YYYYMMDD, HHMMSS  : 20010302 000000
Run directory           : ./
Input restart file      : restart.YYYYMMDDhh
Make new restart file?  : F
Output restart file(s)  : restart.YYYYMMDDhh
Root data directory     : /data/geos/GEOS_1x1_CH/
 => GCAP       subdir   : AGRID/YYYY/MM/
 => GEOS-3     subdir   : GEOS_3/YYYY/MM/
 => GEOS-4     subdir   : GEOS_4_v4/YYYY/MM/
 => GEOS-5     subdir   : GEOS_5/YYYY/MM/
Dir w/ 1x1 emissions etc: /data/ctm/GEOS_1x1/
Temporary directory     : TEMP/
Unzip met fields?       : T
Wait for met fields?    : T
Use variable tropopause : F
Global offsets I0, J0   : 250 79       # need to be changed for NA; index refer to 1x1 resolution

 ...

%%% TRANSPORT MENU %%%  :
Turn on Transport       : T
 => Use Flux Correction?: F
 => Fill Negative Values: T 
 => IORD, JORD, KORD    : 3  3  7
Transport Timestep [min]: 10  
Use strat O3/NOy BC's   : T

...

%%% CONVECTION MENU %%% :
Turn on Cloud Conv?     : T
Turn on PBL Mixing?     : T
Convect Timestep (min)  : 10

... 

%%% NESTED GRID MENU %%% 
Save TPCORE 4x5 BC's    : T
TPCORE 4x5 BC directory : /as/home/strat/yxw/bc/  # change to be your own directory
4x5 BC timestep [min]   : 180
LL box of 4x5 BC region :  51  21                 # need to be changed for NA; index refer to 4x5 resolution
UR box of 4x5 BC region :  67  37                 # need to be changed for NA; index refer to 4x5 resolution
1x1 offsets I0_W, J0_W  :   3   3                 # do not change for NA

NOTES to 1x1 nested-grid simulation for GEOS-3

General

1. If not NESTED_CH (East Asia window) or NESTED_NA (north America window), need to first obtain
   • The 1x1 meteorological field for the nested domain;
   • Tll the input files (mostly emissions) at 1x1 resolution for the nested domain.
2. There needs to be two run directories: one for the 4x5 global run and one for the 1x1 nested run
3. Only one code directory is necessary. Code version v7-01-02 and higher can be compiled for both the global run and the nested run
4. Run the 4x5 global simulation first. With correct switches in the 4x5 input.geos file, boundary conditions will
   • be saved out automatically into the designated directory and will be read later by the nested run.
   • The code automatically takes care of formatting.

Code

1. Change grid size in define.h
2. Change scaling factor in lightning_nox_mod.f (if not Chinese window)
   • search for 1x1 in the file to locate the lines of code where changes should be made
3. Change IGLOB, JGLOB in CMN_SIZE (if not Chinese window)
   • IGLOB and JGLOB refers to the size of the nested window measured at 1x1 resolution
4. Change PARAMETER( NLAND=2681, NPULSE=3 ) in commsoil.h (if not Chinese window)
   • changes are already made in the code; just uncomment the NA part
5. Change datadir for O3 column in toms_mod.f --- if not CHINA or NA windows
   • need to create TOMS_O3col_2001.geos file at 1x1 resolution for the nested region
   • use the IDL code: regrid_4to1_O3_column.pro (note that line 33 and 34 needs to be modified for NA)

--Bob Y. 13:42, 15 November 2010 (EST)

Can I run a nested grid simulation with GEOS-5 meteorology?

Yes! You can run GEOS-Chem nested grid simulations at the native GEOS-5 horizontal resolution of 0.5° x 0.666° for the following regions:

1. China/SE Asia region
2. North America region
3. European region

--Melissa Sulprizio 16:17, 18 November 2014 (EST)

Boundary conditions for 0.5 x 0.667

Dylan Millet wrote:

Do you know if the 0.5° x 0.667° nested simulation that's being developed uses a 4° x 5° or a 2° x 2.5° grid outside of the nested domain?"

Yuxuan Wang replied:

The nested simulation uses 4° x 5° simulation results only at the lateral boundaries of the nested domain. For example, the East Asia nested domain covers 10S to 55N and 70E to 150E, one needs to save 4x5 simulation results (tracer concentrations only) for each vertical layer, at a frequency of every 3 hours, at the following four boundaries:

lat = 10S, lon = 70E

lat = 10S, lon = 150E

lat = 55N, lon = 70E

lat = 55N, lon = 150E

One can easily change the code to have the nested-grid simulation use 2x2.5 simulation as boundary conditions, but the default has been to take 4x5 results since it's much faster to run a 4x5 simulation.

Steven Barrett replied:

Could you let me know the standard LL box and UR box of the 4x5 region used as boundary conditions for NA nested 1x1 GEOS-Chem simulations? I think it'll be LL = (9,26) and UR=(29,38), but the upper latitude extent of the NA region falls right on a grid cell boundary, so it's not clear to me which one would be the right one.

Philippe Le Sager replied:

Those indices are correct. They are default Fortran (starting at one for 1st cell), and correspond to cell within the domain.

Bob Yantosca replied:

With the advent of GEOS-Chem v8-03-01, we recommend that you save out 2° x 2.5° boundary conditions for nested grid simulations.

--Bob Y. 16:56, 15 November 2010 (EST)

The following sections refer to code or data that have since been removed from the most recent versions of GEOS-Chem. We shall preserve this information here for reference.