PALM Create Static Driver (palm_csd)

In order to create comprehensive drivers for PALM runs in urban environments, PALM comes shipped with the tool palm_csd. This python3-based script was developed in the course of ​the MOSAIK project and thus is, in principal, only working for the democities Berlin, Hamburg, and Stuttgart. However, with some effort it is possible to adapt the script for other cities as well. Note that in the mid-term, palm_csd will be replaced by a more generic and universal tool based with a graphical user interface as front end.

Execution

In order to create a static driver, go to the working directory (usually ~/palm/current_version), prepare a palm_csd configuration file (see below, an exemplary file can be found here​). After set-up of the configuration file, execute palm_csd as follows:

palm_csd .csd.config.default

The static driver will be written to the directory specified in the configuration file. During compilation of the driver, palm_csd will print some more or less useful information to screen.

Configuration file

This section describes how to set-up a configuration file for creating a static driver for PALM based on pre-processed NetCDF data. In the following we will use data for Berlin, which is available via Open Access. The configuration file uses the well-known format of INI files, which are processed by the ConfigParser? package in python. It consists of the following sections:

[global]

A set of global attributes can be defined that will be passed to the static driver file. In details, the following attributes can be set:

Attribute	Data type	Description
author	string	Author of the static driver. Use the format: name, email
contact	string	Author of the static driver
acronym	string	Author of the static driver
comment	string	Author of the static driver
data_content	string	Author of the static driver
dependencies	string	Author of the static driver
keywords	string	Author of the static driver
source	string	Author of the static driver
campaign	string	Author of the static driver
location	string	Author of the static driver
site	string	Author of the static driver
institution	string	Author of the static driver
palm_version	float	Author of the static driver
rotation_angle	float	Author of the static driver
references	string	Author of the static driver

Example:

author = Bjoern Maronga, maronga@muk.uni-hannover.de
contact_person = Bjoern Maronga, maronga@muk.uni-hannover.de
acronym = LUHimuk
comment = created with palm_csd
data_content = text
dependencies = text
keywords = text
source = text
campaign = text
location = Berlin
site = Berlin Mitte
institution = Institute of Meteorology and Climatology, Leibniz University Hannover
palm_version = 6.0
rotation_angle = 0.0
references = text

[settings]

[output]

[input_01] - [input_XX]

[domain_root]

[domain_01] - [domain_XX]

Required input data

Best practices

Literature

• Heldens et al.
• Mikhailovic & Lalic
• Markkanen et al.