Flexpart WRF Install

Overview

The directory (with respect to the top of the repository) nwp_install/install-flxwrf/ is set up to support installation of Flexpart WRF distributions. Current work has focused specifically on the installation of the Flexpart WRF v3.3 packages in a CTBTO-like CentOS 7 environment. However, I have used this kind of approach for many years on many systems for many distributions, so I think it is “generally portable.”

The components of this directory consist of

  • flxwrfv3.3-2022-01-24/, flxwrfv3.3_2023-05-07/ – these are the subdirectories with all of the installation code, one for each version [NEED TO EXPLAIN THE DIFFERENCES IN THESE VERSIONS – I believe that the newer one simply adds in the SRM flexpart2ctbt installation, but need to doublecheck this]. My intent is to package other versions, or significant modifications to existing versions, in much the same way, with descriptive title and date of implementation. In this way, it is expected that users will be able to create their own custom distributions or have a choice of other distributions.

  • test/ – this subdirectory contains met data, configuration files, and sample output for testing an installed distribution.

All of the above are explained in more detail below, focusing on one of the Flexpart WRF distributions.

flxwrfv3.3_2023-05-07

This is the set of resources which will install and setup, in user space (if desired) a complete Flexpart WRF distribution with a user setup script to facilitate creation of custom domains and simulations, each isolated from each other.

  • setup_install_env.sh - sets up the system-specific environment variables needed for successful installation. Most importantly, this includes paths to libraries and executables needed for Flexpart WRF installation.

  • flxwrfinstall.py - evolving script for installing and testing Flexpart WRF in a CTBTO CentOS 7 environment

    • Fetches tar-zipped source files

    • Compiles in specified location

    • Copies in a flxwrfusersetup script that allows users to create unlimited custom modeling domains based on this distribution

    • Installs SRM production executable

    • Runs a sample Flexpart WRF test case to verify things work.

  • flxwrfusersetup/ - directory with Python driver to create a user-executed script for installing custom Flexpart WRF run directories based on links and copies of pertinent files from the main Flexpart WRF distribution

Sample usage

To install in a new dir, the base dir will be created (not recursively) if the path to it is valid. So, for example, if the user specifies installation in directory /home/morton/simulations/FLEXWRF3.3, the directory /home/morton/simulations/ must already exist, and the subdirectory FLEXWRF3.3 will be created as part of the installation process.

Basic help:

$ ./flxwrfinstall.py -h
usage: flxwrfinstall.py [-h] --baseinstalldir BASEINSTALLDIR [--forceinstall]

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  --baseinstalldir BASEINSTALLDIR, -b BASEINSTALLDIR
                        (Required) Base directory for installed components
  --forceinstall        (Optional, defaults to False if not specified) Full
                        install over any existing installation

The --forceinstall flag is there to help the user bypass compilation if desired (for example, for development of the flxwrfinstallscript or for performing basic tests on the installation). By default, if --forceinstall is not specified on the command-line, and the executables already exist in the base installation directory, then reinstallation will be skipped. We can think of this as kind of a safety device that keeps us from accidentally removing a good installation and having to go through the full compilation process again.

On the other hand, there may be times when the user wants to re-install over an existing installation, with recompilation. In this case, using the --forceinstall flag will enable the recompilation.

So, to perform a basic first installation, the user would first edit setup_install_env.sh and ensure the paths to libraries, etc. are specified correctly, and would then:

$ . setup_install_env.sh
$ ./flxwrfinstall.py --baseinstalldir ~/FLEXWRF3.3-Distribution
.
.
.
 timemanager_serial: End of simulation reached, closing output file

CONGRATULATIONS: YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED A FLEXPART_WRF MODEL RUN!

2023-07-31 00:49:51,556  - INFO - flxwrfinstall.py:sicily_2hr_test:816 --> All expected output files are present
2023-07-31 00:49:51,557  - INFO - flxwrfinstall.py:sicily_2hr_test:818 --> Apparent successful completion of sicily_2hr_test...

If I try it again, it will bypass the existing installation of Flexpart WRF (which is where all the compile time is spent), since, by default, the --forceinstall option is set to False).

flxwrfusersetup program

The flxwrfusersetup.py program is copied into the new distribution directory, and allows the user to create isolated, custom run directories based on this new distribution. The new run directories contain links to the large files and executables of the distribution directory, and copies of other files.

It is invoked as in the following example. Assuming that the Flexpart WRF distribution was installed into /home/ctbtuser/FLEXWRF3.3-Distribution, I can use this program to create a run dir as follows

$ /home/ctbtuser/FLEXWRF3.3-Distribution/flxwrfusersetup.py MyNewFlexWRFCase
FLXWRF src distribution directory: /home/ctbtuser/FLEXWRF3.3-Distribution/flexwrf_code
Creating domain: MyNewFlexWRFCase
Setting up FLEXWRF run dir: MyNewFlexWRFCase/flexwrf_rundir

and I can verify a full run directory as follows (a knowledgeable user would need to customise AVAILABLE and config files).

$ tree -L 2 MyNewFlexWRFCase
MyNewFlexWRFCase
└── flexwrf_rundir
    ├── AVAILABLE2.sample
    ├── AVAILABLE3.sample
    ├── flexwrf.input.backward1.sample
    ├── flexwrf.input.backward2.sample
    ├── flexwrf.input.forward1.sample
    ├── flexwrf.input.forward2.sample
    ├── flexwrf_mpi -> /home/ctbtuser/FLEXWRF3.3-Distribution/flexwrf_code/flexwrf_mpi
    ├── flexwrf_omp -> /home/ctbtuser/FLEXWRF3.3-Distribution/flexwrf_code/flexwrf_omp
    ├── flexwrf_serial -> /home/ctbtuser/FLEXWRF3.3-Distribution/flexwrf_code/flexwrf_serial
    ├── IGBP_int1.dat -> /home/ctbtuser/FLEXWRF3.3-Distribution/flexwrf_code/data/IGBP_int1.dat
    ├── OH_7lev_agl.dat -> /home/ctbtuser/FLEXWRF3.3-Distribution/flexwrf_code/data/OH_7lev_agl.dat
    ├── README_FIRST.txt.sample
    ├── surfdata.t -> /home/ctbtuser/FLEXWRF3.3-Distribution/flexwrf_code/data/surfdata.t
    └── surfdepo.t -> /home/ctbtuser/FLEXWRF3.3-Distribution/flexwrf_code/data/surfdepo.t

1 directory, 14 files

[WARNING - THIS DOESN’T SEEM TO HAVE THE flexpart2ctbt EXECUTABLE IN IT. I NEED TO COME BACK AND LOOK AT THIS]

Summary

This set of installation programs has been created to make it somewhat easy to deploy a wide range of versions of Flexpart WRF, allowing for great flexibility in modeling environments. The flxwrfusersetup.py script allows the user to create a number of custom run directories based on the distribution of their choice.

Please refer to the Flexpart WRF Install Technical Notes section if more detail is needed.