Plotfiles

Controlling PlotFile Generation

“Plotfiles” can be written very efficiently in parallel in a native AMReX format or in HDF5. They can also be written in NetCDF.

The following options in the inputs file control the generation of plotfiles. Note that plotfiles can be written at two different frequencies; the names, frequency and content of the two streams are controlled separately.

List of Parameters

Parameter	Definition	Acceptable Values	Default
erf.plotfile_type	AMReX, NETCDF or HDF5	“amrex” or “netcdf / “NetCDF” or “hdf5” / “HDF5”	“amrex”
erf.plot_file_1	prefix for plotfiles at first freq.	String	“plt_1_”
erf.plot_file_2	prefix for plotfiles at seoncd freq.	String	“plt_2_”
erf.plot_int_1	how often (by level-0 time steps) to write plot files at first freq.	Integer \(> 0\)	-1
erf.plot_int_2	how often (by level-0 time steps) to write plot files at seoncd freq.	Integer \(> 0\)	-1
erf.plot_vars_1	name of variables to include in plotfiles at first freq.	list of names	None
erf.plot_vars_2	name of variables to include in plotfiles at seoncd freq.	list of names	None

Notes

• The NeTCDF option is only available if ERF has been built with USE_NETCDF enabled.

Examples of Usage

• erf.plotfile_type = amrex

• erf.plot_file_1 = plt_run

• erf.plot_int_1 = 10

  means that native plot files (actually directories) starting with the prefix “plt_run” will be generated every 10 level-0 time steps. If using amrex format, that directory names will be plt_run00000, plt_run00010, plt_run00020, etc. If using HDF5 format, the names will have “.h5” appended; if using NetCDF format, the names will have “.nc” appended.

  In addition, while the amrex plotfiles will contain data at all of the refinement levels, NetCDF files are separated by level.

PlotFile Outputs

Plotfiles can include the quantities of several simulation parameters as output. They are summarized in the list below.

Output Options

Parameter	Definition
x_velocity	Velocity in x direction
y_velocity	Velocity in y direction
z_velocity	Velocity in z direction
density	Total density
dens_hse	Hydrostatic density
pert_dens	Perturbational density
pressure	Total pressure
pres_hse	Hydrostatic pressure
pert_pres	Perturbational pressure
pres_hse_x	Derivative of hydrostatic pressure in x
pres_hse_y	Derivative of hydrostatic pressure in y
dpdx	Pressure gradient in x direction
dpdy	Pressure gradient in y direction
temp	Temperature
theta	Potential temperature
rhotheta	Density * theta
KE	Kinetic energy
QKE	Turbulent kinetic energy * 2
rhoKE	Density * KE
rhoQKE	Density * QKE
scalar	Scalar magnitude
rhoadv_0	Conserved scalar
soundspeed	Sound speed
z_phys	Terrain height
detJ	Jacobian determinant
mapfac	Map scale factor
qt	Nonprecipitating water (qv + qc + qi)
qp	Precipitating water (rain + snow + graupel)
qc	Cloud water mixing ratio
qi	Cloud ice mixing ratio
qv	Water vapor mixing ratio
rhoQt	Density * qt
rhoQp	Density * qp

Examples of Usage

In an input file, the user can select parameters to plot by supplying a space-delimited list to erf.plot_vars_1 or erf.plot_vars_2.

• erf.plot_vars_1 = option1 option2 option3