NEW -- Archived AMPS data now available through the Earth System Grid
AMPS forecast data from the WRF model, from 2006 through recent months, are
now available through the Earth System Grid (ESG).
Original WRF model output files (in NetCDF format) as well as GRIB (edition 1)
subsets of the data (when available) may now be downloaded through the ESG portal.
Please see http://www.earthsystemgrid.org/project/amps.html
For users with access to NCAR's computing environment, AMPS data can still be accessed directly from NCAR's HPSS, as discussed below.
AMPS Archive Information
The AMPS archive contains forecasts since January 2001. Any
particular forecast times not found in a listing of the files reflect
missed forecasts. Sizes listed are current sizes. Older files may be
smaller because of a smaller model configuration (e.g.,
horizontal/vertical dimensions). Occasionally, stored forecast files
may be smaller than the usual sizes; this reflects a shortened
forecast due to some problem when the particular AMPS run was made.
File archive strategies (e.g., data organization, data compression,
file naming conventions, etc.) have changed from time to time.
AMPS 30/10/3.3-km WRF forecasts, beginning 14 Jan 2013 12Z
- Complete model output fields for 30-km grid, AMPS domain 1 (3-hrly, 0-120 hrs; approx. 225 Mb per output time; 9 Gb per forecast).
- Complete model output fields for 10-km grid, AMPS domain 2 (3-hrly, 0-120 hrs; approx. 650 Mb per output time; 26 Gb per forecast).
- Complete model output fields for 3.3-km grid, AMPS domain 3 (1-hrly, 0-36 hrs; approx. 675 Mb per output time; 26 Gb per forecast).
- Complete model output fields for 3.3-km grid, AMPS domain 4 (1-hrly, 0-36 hrs -- discontinued 04 Apr 2013).
- Complete model output fields for 1.1-km grid, AMPS domain 5 (1-hrly, 0-36 hrs; approx. 165 Mb per output time; 6.5 Gb per forecast).
- Complete model output fields for 3.3-km grid, AMPS domain 6 (1-hrly, 0-36 hrs; approx. 340 Mb per output time; 14 Gb per forecast).
- Grib subsets of the model output for each grid
- All AMPS graphics and tables posted to the AMPS web page
- Model printout files, time series data, and miscellaneous
- Model input files: wrfinput, wrfbdy, tables, etc.
- GFS and observations files used to initialize each forecast
HPSS Directory:/AMPSRT/WRF_30/<YYYYMM>/<YYYYMMDDHH>
Note: We have switched to archiving individual WRF output files, i.e., we no longer create tarballs of sets of WRF output files. The WRF output files now use NetCDF-4, with internal compression. NetCDF4-aware programs will be needed to read the WRF output files.
AMPS 45/15/5-km WRF forecasts, beginning 01 Oct 2008
- Complete forecast fields for 45-km grid, AMPS domain 1 (3-hrly, 0-120 hrs, approx 4.5 Gb)
- Complete forecast fields for 15-km grid, AMPS domain 2 (3-hrly, 0-120 hrs, approx 12.6 Gb)
- Complete forecast fields for 5-km grid, AMPS domain 3 (1-hrly, 0-36 hrs, approx 1.8 Gb)
- Complete forecast fields for 5-km grid, AMPS domain 4 (1-hrly, 0-36 hrs, approx 1.9 Gb)
- Complete forecast fields for 1.67-km grid, AMPS domain 5 (1-hrly, 0-36 hrs, approx 2.8 Gb)
- Complete forecast fields for 5-km grid, AMPS domain 6 (1-hrly, 0-36 hrs, approx 6 Gb)
- Grib subsets of the model output for each grid (beginning 29 Oct 2008; approx 1.5 Gb for all six AMPS grids)
- All AMPS graphics and tables posted to the AMPS web page (beginning ; approx 860 Mb)
- Model printout files, time series data, and miscellaneous (approx 41 Mb; with model input [beginning 2009-08-24/12Z], approx 650 MB)
- Model input files: wrfinput, wrfbdy, tables, etc. added to the "misc" files starting 2009-08-24/12Z.
- GFS and observations files used to initialize each forecast
HPSS Directory:/AMPSRT/WRF_45/<YYYYMM>/<YYYYMMDDHH>
AMPS 60/20/6.6-km WRF forecasts, from 06 Mar 2006 through 03 Nov 2008
- Complete forecast fields for 60-km grid, AMPS domain 1 (3-hrly, 0-72 hrs, approx 850 Mb compressed)
- Complete forecast fields for 20-km grid, AMPS domain 2 (3-hrly, 0-72 hrs, approx 2500 Mb compressed)
- Complete forecast fields for 6.7-km grid, AMPS domain 3 (1-hrly, 0-36 hrs, approx 650 Mb compressed)
- Complete forecast fields for 6.7-km grid, AMPS domain 4 (1-hrly, 0-36 hrs, approx 650 Mb compressed)
- Complete forecast fields for 2.2-km grid, AMPS domain 5 (1-hrly, 0-36 hrs, approx 1025 Mb compressed)
- Complete forecast fields for 6.7-km grid, AMPS domain 6 (1-hrly, 0-36 hrs, approx 2025 Mb compressed)
- Model printout files, time series data, and miscellaneous (approx 29 Mbytes)
- GFS and observations files used to initialize each forecast
HPSS Directory:/AMPSRT/WRF_60/<YYYYMM>/<YYYYMMDDHH>
AMPS 60/20/6.6-km MM5 forecasts, from 17 Sep 2005 through 30 Jun 2009
- Complete forecast fields for 60-km grid, AMPS domain 1 (3-hrly, 0-72 hrs, approx 1.2 Gb)
- Complete forecast fields for 20-km grid, AMPS domain 2 (3-hrly, 0-72 hrs, approx 3.3 Gb)
- Complete forecast fields for 6.7-km grid, AMPS domain 3 (1-hrly, 0-36 hrs, approx 675 Mb)
- Complete forecast fields for 6.7-km grid, AMPS domain 4 (1-hrly, 0-36 hrs, approx 650 Mb)
- Complete forecast fields for 2.2-km grid, AMPS domain 5 (1-hrly, 0-36 hrs, approx 1.1 Gb)
- Complete forecast fields for 6.7-km grid, AMPS domain 6 (1-hrly, 0-36 hrs, approx 2.3 Gb)
- Model printout files, time series data, and miscellaneous (approx 79 Mbytes)
- GFS and observations files used to initialize each forecast
HPSS Directory:/AMPSRT/MM5_60/<YYYYMM>/<YYYYMMDDHH>
AMPS 90/30/10-km MM5 forecasts, from 05 Jan 2001 through 19 Dec 2005
Note: Forecast times, grid configuration, and data volumes vary significantly during this period
- Complete forecast fields for 90-km grid, AMPS domain 1 (3-hrly)
- Complete forecast fields for 30-km grid, AMPS domain 2 (3-hrly)
- Complete forecast fields for 10-km grid, AMPS domain 3 (1-hrly)
- Complete forecast fields for 10-km grid, AMPS domain 4 (1-hrly)
- Complete forecast fields for 3.3-km grid, AMPS domain 5 (1-hrly)
- Complete forecast fields for 10-km grid, AMPS domain 6 (1-hrly)
- Model printout files, time series data, and miscellaneous (approx 79 Mbytes)
- GFS and observations files used to initialize each forecast
HPSS Directory:/MM5RT/ARCHIVE/<YYYYMM>/<YYYYMMDDHH>
Where are the data archived?
Data are archived on
NCAR's High Performance Storage System (HPSS).
Archives can be found in HPSS directories named in the above
sections, where <YYYYMM> is the year and month of
the model
initialization time, and <YYYYMMDDHH> is the year,
month, day, and hour of the model initialization time. For example, files created by the forecast
cycle initialized for 12 UTC, 03 Jan 2012 would be archived in HPSS directory
/AMPSRT/WRF_45/201201/2012010312
Archived files in those directories are named:
wrfout_<YYYYMMDDHH>_d01_A.tar (AMPS 45-km grid, hours 0- 60 at 3-hr intervals)
wrfout_<YYYYMMDDHH>_d01_B.tar (AMPS 45-km grid, hours 63-120 at 3-hr intervals)
wrfout_<YYYYMMDDHH>_d02_A.tar (AMPS 15-km grid, hours 0- 60 at 3-hr intervals)
wrfout_<YYYYMMDDHH>_d02_B.tar (AMPS 15-km grid, hours 63-120 at 3-hr intervals)
wrfout_<YYYYMMDDHH>_d03.tar (AMPS 5-km grid, hours 0- 36 at 1 hr intervals)
wrfout_<YYYYMMDDHH>_d04.tar (AMPS 5-km grid, hours 0- 36 at 1 hr intervals)
wrfout_<YYYYMMDDHH>_d05.tar (AMPS 1.7-km grid, hours 0- 36 at 1 hr intervals)
wrfout_<YYYYMMDDHH>_d06_A.tar (AMPS 5-km grid, hours 0- 24 at 1 hr intervals)
wrfout_<YYYYMMDDHH>_d06_B.tar (AMPS 5-km grid, hours 25- 36 at 1 hr intervals)
wrf_grib_<YYYYMMDDHH>_d1.tar.gz (AMPS 45-km GRIB output, hours 0-120 at 3-hr intervals)
wrf_grib_<YYYYMMDDHH>_d2.tar.gz (AMPS 15-km GRIB output, hours 0-120 at 3-hr intervals)
wrf_grib_<YYYYMMDDHH>_d3.tar.gz (AMPS 5-km GRIB output, hours 0- 36 at 1-hr intervals)
wrf_grib_<YYYYMMDDHH>_d4.tar.gz (AMPS 5-km GRIB output, hours 0- 36 at 1-hr intervals)
wrf_grib_<YYYYMMDDHH>_d5.tar.gz (AMPS 1.7-km GRIB output, hours 0- 36 at 1-hr intervals)
wrf_grib_<YYYYMMDDHH>_d6.tar.gz (AMPS 5-km GRIB output, hours 0- 36 at 1-hr intervals)
misc.<YYYYMMDDHH>.tar.bz2 (printout from WRF run, initial conditions, boundary conditions, etc.)
products_<YYYYMMDDHH>.tar (AMPS graphics and tables as posted to the AMPS web site)
GFS and observations files are archived with path names according to:
/AMPSRT/GFS/<YYYY>/gfs.<YYYYMMDDHH>.tar.bz2
What are the file formats?
Files with .gz suffix are compressed with gzip compression. Uncompress (on Unix/Linux machines) with the gunzip command.
Files with .bz2 suffix are compressed with bzip2 compression. Uncompress (on Unix/Linux machines) with the bunzip2 command.
Archived wrfout_<YYYYMMDDHH>_d*.tar files contain individual model output files named wrfout_d0?_YYYY-MM-DD_HH:00:00.bz2, where YYYY, MM, DD, and HH are the year, month, day, and hour, respectively, of the valid time for the model output contained in the file.
Individual model output files are bzip2-compressed NetCDF format files. See the WRF Users' Guide at http://www.mmm.ucar.edu/wrf/users/docs/user_guide_V3/contents.html for details of the fields in each NetCDF file.
The misc.<YYYYMMDDHH>.tar.bz2 files contain model time series at timestep frequency and other model printout files in ASCII files. It also contains WRF initial and boundary conditions files, and various tables and configuration files needed by WRF at runtime.
The GFS files in the gfs.<YYYYMMDDHH>.tar.bz2 file are in GRIB (Edition 1 or Edition 2) format.
The observations file in the gfs.<YYYYMMDDHH>.tar.bz2 file is in MM5 LITTLE_R observations format.
How do I access the data?
An NCAR CISL (Computational and Information Systems Laboratory) computing account is needed to access NCAR's HPSS.
See http://www2.cisl.ucar.edu/docs/allocations for
details on requesting an account.
Much information about using NCAR computers is available at
www2.cisl.ucar.edu. CISL's primary general-use computer is bluefire.
Basic HPSS access commands on CISL machines for listing and reading files are:
hsi ls -lR <HPSSPath>
hsi cget <LocalName> : <HPSSFile>
|
(to list the contents of a directory or path name)
(to read a file from HPSS to a new, local file)
|
See http://www2.cisl.ucar.edu/docs/hpss/hsi for
further details on HPSS commands.
The model output files tend to be large, so use of the temporary space on NCAR's
machines (accessible as directory /glade/scratch/${user}) is usually necessary.
Examples:
hsi ls -lR /AMPSRT/WRF_45/201201
will list all archived files for the month of January, 2012.
To get a specific file from this period, the following would be executed on an CISL computer:
cd /ptmp/${user}
hsi cget wrfout_2012010312_d01_A.tar : /AMPSRT/WRF_45/201201/2012010312/wrfout_2012010312_d01_A.tar
or if no file renaming is needed, just
hsi cget /AMPSRT/WRF_45/201201/2012010312/wrfout_2012010312_d01_A.tar
This will read the specified archive file from the HPSS into the new local file wrfout_2012010312_d01_A.tar.
wrfout_2012010312_d01_A.tar may then be transferred to your local machine using e.g. the sftp or scp commands.
Who can I contact about the AMPS archives?
e-mail: Kevin Manning