PlanetWRFv3 Users Guide
NOTE: planetWRF is based on WRF version 3.0.1.1 – when you download WRF from NCAR, DO NOT download the current version of WRF (which is version 3.1 – planetWRF will not work with this more recent release).
The PlanetWRF public release is now official! Please replace any version downloaded during beta testing (pre 29 March 2009) with the version currently available. Also please continue to check the Bug Fixes page for minor updates/corrections. If we have your contact details we will notify you of major bug fixes / new releases via e-mail.
These are instructions for downloading, compiling and running version 3 of the PlanetWRF model. They will allow you to run a standard Mars simulation and verify your results against our own.
To find out the systems and software for which WRF has been run successfully see here and here.
Any papers or presentations based on PlanetWRF should reference Richardson et al. 2007.
Obtaining PlanetWRF:
PlanetWRF is the planetary version of the publicly available WRF (Weather Research and Forecasting) model based at NCAR. It is a combination of the original WRF model and a set of planetary additions / modifications. The steps are to download the WRF release and make sure it works on your system, and then to download the “patch kit” (collection of routines) that converts WRF to PlanetWRF. Note that PlanetWRF can still be configured to run for Earth, and in this configuration behaves identically to the original WRF model.
For instructions on obtaining PlanetWRF click here.
Configuring and compiling PlanetWRF:
The instructions are very similar to those for WRFv3, so please refer to them for general questions (e.g., setting up your environment). PlanetWRF should run on any system capable of running the WRF model. To find out the systems and software for which WRF has been run successfully see here and here. If you have problems running PlanetWRF, please check you can run basic WRF first. If the problem is found to be with the NCAR WRF release, please contact NCAR WRF help. If WRF runs properly but planetWRF fails, contact us here.
For instructions on configuring and compiling PlanetWRF click here.
Running PlanetWRF as a global Mars model:
You should run PlanetWRF using the default global Mars settings and verify your results (against our standard results given here) before making any changes to the default namelist file or any of the PlanetWRF code. If you contact us with problems this will be the first thing we ask you!
The standard run is a ’spinup’ run (starting from an atmosphere at rest with no surface CO2 ice) and lasts for one Mars-year. The run has 5×5 degree horizontal resolution and 40-layers, with a CO2 cycle and prescribed dust distribution, and outputs every 6 Mars hours (where a Mars hours is defined simply as 1/24th of a Mars day). Running on for a second year is recommended to produce output unaffected by the spinup period.
For instructions on running PlanetWRF click here.
Verifying PlanetWRF output:
Once you have produced several Mars days of output you can begin comparing your results to those from our benchmark simulation. This page provides simple IDL code to produce plots that should match those shown if your run is proceeding correctly. They include zonal mean T and u and surface T, P and CO2 ice cover. For those without IDL, it also gives instructions for looking at model output using open source software ncview, and some ncview screenshots for the standard run.
Further information:
Once you have successfully managed to run and verify your version of PlanetWRF, you may want to change namelist settings (e.g. run at a higher resolution) or change the code itself (e.g. insert a new radiative transfer scheme, include dust lifting, etc.). We will soon be adding advice and tips on how to make these kinds of changes, including a discussion of how to deal with tracers.