Table of Contents - The Atmospheric Studies Group at TRC

Section 8: CALMET Model Files
8. CALMET MODEL FILES
The CALMET model obtains the necessary control information and input meteorological data from a
number of different input files. The control file (CALMET.INP) contains the data that define a particular
model run, such as beginning and ending date and time, horizontal and vertical grid data, and model
option flags. Geophysical data, including terrain elevations, land use, and surface characteristics, are read
from a formatted data file called GEO.DAT.
The hourly surface meteorological observations are contained in the surface data file (SURF.DAT). If
overwater temperatures are being calculated separately, this file must contain only land stations. This file
can be either a formatted or an unformatted file generated by the SMERGE preprocessor program or a
free-formatted, user-prepared file, depending on options specified in the control file. Upper air
meteorological data are read from a series of data files called UPn.DAT, where n is the upper air station
number (e.g., n=1,2,3,...). The data for each upper air station are stored in a separate data file.
Hourly precipitation observations are contained in a file called PRECIP.DAT. This file can be a
formatted or an unformatted file generated by the PMERGE preprocessor program or a free-formatted,
user-prepared file. Overwater meteorological data are read from a series of data files called SEAn.DAT,
where n is the overwater station number (e.g., n= 1,2,3,...). The data for each overwater station are stored
in a separate file. If overwater default parameters for temperature, air-sea temperature difference, etc. are
being used and separate overwater temperatures are not being calculated, then overwater stations can be
placed in the SURF.DAT file.
CALMET contains an option to use gridded prognostic model output from CSUMM, MM4, or MM5 as
model input. If this option is selected, the CSUMM gridded prognostic model wind fields are read from
an unformatted data file called PROG.DAT, the MM4/MM5 prognostic output are read from a formatted
data file called MM4.DAT, or the MM5 fields may be read from a formatted file called 3D.DAT
(formerly MM5.DAT).
In its default mode, CALMET computes domain-averaged winds, temperature lapse rates and surface
temperatures from the hourly surface observations and twice-daily upper air data contained in the
SURF.DAT, UPn.DAT, and, if present, SEAn.DAT files. However, the model contains an option for the
user to specify pre-computed values for these parameters from an optional file DIAG.DAT.
The main CALMET output files are a list file (CALMET.LST) containing a listing of the model inputs
and user-selected printouts of the output meteorological values and an optional, unformatted disk file
(CALMET.DAT or PACOUT.DAT) containing the hourly gridded meteorological data produced by the
model. In addition, several additional optional list files (TEST.PRT, TEST.OUT, TEST.KIN,
TEST.FRD, and TEST.SLP) can be created. These files, provided primarily for model testing purposes,
contain intermediate versions of the wind fields at various points in the diagnostic wind field analysis
8-1