PROGRAM gitm_blocks_to_netcdf

The Global Ionosphere Thermosphere Model (GITM) is a 3-dimensional spherical code that models the Earth’s thermosphere and ionosphere system using a stretched grid in latitude and altitude. For a fuller description of using GITM within DART, please see the GITM.
gitm_blocks_to_netcdf is the program that reads GITM restart files (i.e. b?????.rst) and creates a DART output/restart file (e.g. perfect_ics, filter_ics, ...).
The list of variables used to create the DART state vector are specified in the input.nml file.
Conditions required for successful execution of gitm_blocks_to_netcdf:

  • a valid input.nml namelist file for DART

  • a valid UAM.in control file for GITM

  • a set of b?????.rst data files for GITM

  • a header.rst file for GITM

  • the DART/GITM interfaces must be compiled in a manner consistent with the GITM data and control files. The following GITM source files are required to build any DART interface:

    • models/gitm/GITM2/src/ModConstants.f90

    • models/gitm/GITM2/src/ModEarth.f90

    • models/gitm/GITM2/src/ModKind.f90

    • models/gitm/GITM2/src/ModSize.f90

    • models/gitm/GITM2/src/ModTime.f90

    • models/gitm/GITM2/src/time_routines.f90

    Versions of these are included in the DART release. ModSize.f90, in particular, must match what was used to create the b????.rst files.

The individual model instances are run in unique directories. This is also where the converter routines gitm_blocks_to_netcdf and dart_to_gitm are run. This makes it easy to use a single ‘static’ name for the input and output filenames. advance_model.csh is responsibile for linking the appropriate files to these static filenames.

The simplest way to test the converter is to compile GITM and run a single model state forward using work/clean.sh. To build GITM … download GITM and unpack the code into DART/models/gitm/GITM2 and follow these instructions:

cd models/gitm/GITM2
./Config.pl -install -compiler=ifortmpif90 -earth
make
cd ../work
./clean.sh 1 1 0 150.0 170.0 1.0

Namelist

We adhere to the F90 standard of starting a namelist with an ampersand ‘&’ and terminating with a slash ‘/’ for all our namelist input. Character strings that contain a ‘/’ must be enclosed in quotes to prevent them from prematurely terminating the namelist.

&gitm_blocks_to_netcdf_nml
   gitm_blocks_to_netcdf_output_file = 'dart_ics',
   /

&model_nml
   gitm_restart_dirname         = 'advance_temp_e1/UA/restartOUT',
   assimilation_period_days     = 0,
   assimilation_period_seconds  = 1800,
   model_perturbation_amplitude = 0.2,
   output_state_vector          = .false.,
   calendar                     = 'Gregorian',
   debug                        = 0,
   gitm_state_variables = 'Temperature',            'QTY_TEMPERATURE',
                          'eTemperature',           'QTY_TEMPERATURE_ELECTRON',
                          'ITemperature',           'QTY_TEMPERATURE_ION',
                          'iO_3P_NDensityS',        'QTY_DENSITY_NEUTRAL_O3P',
   ...

Contents

Type

Description

gitm_blocks_to_netcdf_output_file

character(len=128)

The name of the DART file containing the model state derived from the GITM restart files.

The full description of the model_nml namelist is documented in the gitm model_mod, but the most important variable for gitm_blocks_to_netcdf is repeated here.

Contents

Type

Description

gitm_restart_dirname

character(len=256)

The name of the directory containing the GITM restart files and runtime control information.

gitm_state_variables

character(len=32), dimension(2,80)

The list of variable names in the gitm restart file to use to create the DART state vector and their corresponding DART kind. The default list is specified in model_mod.nml

Modules used

obs_def_upper_atm_mod.f90
assim_model_mod.f90
types_mod.f90
location/threed_sphere/location_mod.f90
models/gitm/GITM2/src/ModConstants.f90
models/gitm/GITM2/src/ModEarth.f90
models/gitm/GITM2/src/ModKind.f90
models/gitm/GITM2/src/ModSize.f90
models/gitm/GITM2/src/ModTime.f90
models/gitm/GITM2/src/time_routines.f90
models/gitm/dart_gitm_mod.f90
models/gitm/gitm_blocks_to_netcdf.f90
models/gitm/model_mod.f90
null_mpi_utilities_mod.f90
obs_kind_mod.f90
random_seq_mod.f90
time_manager_mod.f90
utilities_mod.f90

Files read

  • gitm restart files: b????.rst

  • gitm control files: header.rst

  • gitm control files: UAM.in.rst

  • DART namelist file: input.nml

Files written

  • DART initial conditions/restart file; e.g. dart_ics

References