Static input file

The static input file encompasses topography information as well as all necessary information file to initialize all land- and urban-type surfaces in the model, such as heat capacities, roughness, albedo, emissivity, etc.. The initialization procedure for the surfaces follows a multi-step approach, depending on the given level of detail of each variable as provided in the static input file. In a first step, surfaces are initialized horizontally homogeneous with a bulk classification for each type (e.g. vegetation or soil), either set by a default value or set by a namelist-provided value, while the bulk classification provides standard values for a variety of parameters. In a second step, surfaces are initialized individually by providing the bulk classification at each grid point individually. In case more detailed information is available, all or even single parameters can be initialized individually at each grid point.

The provided input data is used to classify each surface element according to its treatment, i.e. default-, natural- or urban-type, in order to treat each surface element accordingly.

In case no land-surface or urban-surface scheme is applied, all surfaces are classified as default-type. If a surface element has vegetation, pavement or water, it will be classified as natural-type and is treated by the land-surface scheme, while building surfaces will be treated by the urban-surface scheme.

Global attributes

Attribute	Type	Explanation / Remarks
acronym	NC_CHAR	Abbreviation of institution (max. 12 characters)
author	NC_CHAR	first name, last name, email address
campaign	NC_CHAR	User-defined text, max. 12 characters
contact_person	NC_CHAR	first name, last name, email address
creation_time	NC_CHAR	File creation date (UTC), format: YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss +00
comment	NC_CHAR	User-defined text
Conventions(*)	NC_CHAR	Must be set to "CF-1.7".
data_content	NC_CHAR	User-defined text, max. 16 characters
dependencies	NC_CHAR	User-defined text
history	NC_CHAR	Information of data processing, separation by comma, e.g., "2016-04-22 11:45: updated vegetation"
keywords	NC_CHAR	User-defined list, separated by comma
license	NC_CHAR	User-defined text
location	NC_CHAR	User-defined text
origin_lat(*)	NC_FLOAT	Geographical latitude in degrees north. This attribute defines the south boundary of the model domain and overwrites the namelist parameter latitude, which is used e.g. for the Coriolis parameters as well as for the radiation. Please note, in case of a nested run, values of latitude will be synchronized internally to the respective value of the root parent domain.
origin_lon(*)	NC_FLOAT	Geographical longitude in degrees east. This attribute defines the left boundary of the model domain and overwrites the namelist parameter longitude, which is used e.g. for the radiation. Please note, in case of a nested run, values of longitude will be synchronized internally to the respective value of the root parent domain.
origin_time(*?)	NC_CHAR	Reference point in time (UTC) YYYY­-MM­-DD hh:mm:ss +00.
origin_x(*)	NC_FLOAT	Reference x-location in m (UTM) of left model boundary.
origin_y(*)	NC_FLOAT	Reference y-location in m (UTM) of lower model boundary.
origin_z(*)	NC_FLOAT	Reference height in m above sea level after DHHN2016.
palm_version	NC_FLOAT	e.g. "5.0" for compatibility checks
references	NC_CHAR	User-defined text
rotation_angle(*?)	NC_FLOAT	Clockwise angle of rotation in degrees between North positive y axis and the y axis in the data, e.g. 0.0. This value overwrites the namelist parameter rotation_angle, which is used e.g. to calculate the Coriolis force.
site	NC_CHAR	User-defined text
source	NC_CHAR	User-defined text
title	NC_CHAR	Short description, e.g., "PALM input file for scenario 1b"
version	NC_INT	e.g. "1"

(*) are mandatory attributes

List of attributes

The following list gives an overview of attributes that can be assigned to variables in a static driver file.

Attribute	Type	Value	Description
_FillValue	Variable-specific	Variable-specific	Fill value for missing data
coordinates	NC_CHAR	"E_UTM N_UTM lon lat" (?)	Coordinate system
flag_meanings	NC_CHAR	Variable-specific	Explanation of the meaning of 0b and 1b for NC_BYTE variables
flag_values	NC_BYTE	0b, 1b	Explanation of the meaning of 0b and 1b for NC_BYTE variables
grid_mapping	NC_CHAR	"crsUTM: E_UTM N_UTM crsETRS: lon lat" (?)	Grid mapping
lod	NC_INT	Variable-specific	Level of detail used for some variables
long_name	NC_CHAR	Variable-specific	Variable long name
res_orig	NC_CHAR	Variable-specific	Resolution of the original data
source	NC_CHAR	Variable-specific	Data source
units	NC_CHAR	Variable-specific	Units of the variable
valid_range	NC_BYTE	0b, 1b	Valid range of values

List of dimensions:

Topography set-up

In order to prescribe topography from the static input file, topography = 'read_from_file' is required.

Input variable	Type	Attributes	Explanation / Remarks
building_id(y,x)	NC_INT	_FillValue=-9999(*) coordinates grid_mapping long_name="building_id_number" res_orig source units="1"	The building ID is used to identify single building envelopes which are composed of a number of grid volumes, and which is used for correct mapping of buildings on top of the underlying terrain, as well as for the indoor_model. Please note, building_id must not contain any _FillValue at grid points where buildings are is defined via building_2d or building_3d.
buildings_2d(y,x)	NC_FLOAT	_FillValue=-9999.f(*) coordinates grid_mapping lod=1 long_name="building_height" res_orig source units="m"	Two-dimensional building height in m relative to the underlying terrain. No holes or overhanging structures are possible. buildings_2d will be mounted on top of the maximum local terrain height occupied by the respective building. Please note, buildings_2d will not be used if buildings_3d is present on file. If buildings_2d is used building_id is required.
buildings_3d(z,y,x)	NC_BYTE	_FillValue=-127b(*) coordinates flag_meanings="no building, building" flag_values=0b, 1b grid_mapping long_name="building_flag" res_orig source units="1" valid_range=0b, 1b	Three-dimensional building topology relative to the underlying terrain. buildings_3d will be mapped on top of the maximum local terrain height occupied by the respective building. Note, buildings_3d does not need to be prescribed beyond the top level of the highest buildings, i.e. z dimension can me minimized accordingly. If buildings_3d is prescribed, building_id is required.
obstruction_uv(azimuth_uv,zenith_uv,y,x)	NC_BYTE	_FillValue=-127b(*) coordinates flag_meanings="no obstruction, obstruction" flag_values=0b, 1b grid_mapping long_name="obstruction" res_orig source units="1" valid_range=0b, 1b	Obstruction of the sky at a pixel location (y,x). This field is needed only if the UV exposure model is used.
zt(y,x)	NC_FLOAT	_FillValue=-9999.f(*) coordinates grid_mapping long_name="terrain_height" res_orig source units="m"	Terrain height in m relative to origin_z. If not provided, the relative terrain height will be set to 0 m all over the model domain. Please note, zt must not contain any _FillValues.

(*) are mandatory attributes

Surface classification

For a proper classification of natural land and water surfaces, pavement_type, soil_type, vegetation_type and water_type are required, which define bulk parameters for albedo, soil, root distribution, leaf-area density, etc. To enable initialization of the land-surface model with input-file-provided variables, the namelist parameter surface_type needs to be set to 'netcdf'. In case more than one of the surface types (vegetation, pavement, water) is given at an (x,y) location, the relative fraction of each of the types must be provided by surface_fraction.

Further, if the urban-surface model is applied, also building_type is required, which defines bulk parameters to run the urban-surface model. Please note, for the sake of consistency, at least one of the variables pavement_type, vegetation_type, water_type or building_type needs to be defined at each (y,x) location if the land- and urban-surface model is applied.

If only the land-surface model is applied but no urban-surface model, one of pavement_type, vegetation_type or water_type needs to be defined at each (y,x) location.

Further, in case data is taken from the static input file, both, the land- and urban-surface model need to be either switched on or off. Applying only one of the energy-balance models is not sufficient and will lead to a controlled termination.

Surface variables:

Input variable	Type	Attributes	Explanation / Remarks
building_type(y,x)	NC_BYTE	_FillValue=-127b(*) coordinates grid_mapping long_name="building type classification" res_orig source units="1"	Building type used to select bulk parameters. building_type is required if the urban-surface model or the indoor_model are applied. Please note, building_type must not contain any _FillValue at grid points where buildings_2d / buildings_3d is defined. building_type Description (use, age) albedo_type 0 User_defined according to building_pars 1 Residential, < 1950 33 2 Residential, 1950 - 2000 33 3 Residential, > 2000 33 4 Office, < 1950 33 5 Office, 1950 - 2000 33 6 Office, > 2000 33
pavement_type(y,x)	NC_BYTE	_FillValue=-127b(*) coordinates grid_mapping long_name="pavement type classification" res_orig source units="1"	Bulk classification of pavements on soil. At locations where pavement_type is defined, soil_type must not contain any _FillValues. pavement_type overwrites the homogeneously prescribed setting via the namelist parameter pavement_type. pavement_type Description 0 user defined 18 1 asphalt/concrete mix 19 2 asphalt (asphalt concrete) 20 3 concrete (Portland concrete) 21 4 sett 22 5 paving stones 23 6 cobblestone 24 7 metal 25 8 wood 26 9 gravel 27 10 fine gravel 28 11 pebblestone 29 12 woodchips 30 13 tartan (sports) 31 14 artifical turf (sports) 32 15 clay (sports) 33
street_type(y,x)	NC_BYTE	_FillValue=-127b(*) coordinates grid_mapping long_name="pavement type classification" res_orig source units="1"	Classifcation of streets derived from OpenStreetMap?. street_type is required for application of the parameterized traffic emissions (see emission mode LOD 0 here) and for the multi-agent system. street_type Description 1 unclassified 2 cycleway 3 footway / pedestrian 4 path 5 track 6 living street 7 service 8 residential 9 tertiary 10 tertiary link 11 secondary 12 secondary link 13 primary 14 primary link 15 trunk 16 trunk link 17 motorway 18 motorway link 19 raceway
vegetation_type(y,x)	NC_BYTE	_FillValue=-127b(*) coordinates grid_mapping long_name="vegetation type classification" res_orig source units="1"	Bulk classification of non-resolved (i.e. flat) vegetation surfaces at natural land surface types. At locations where vegetation_type is defined, soil_type must not contain any _FillValues. vegetation_type overwrites the homogeneously prescribed setting via the namelist parameter vegetation_type. vegetation_type Description albedo_type 0 User_defined according to vegetation_pars 1 bare soil 17 2 c rops, mixed farming 2 3 short grass 5 4 evergreen needleleaf trees 6 5 deciduous needleleaf trees 8 6 evergreen broadleaf trees 9 7 deciduous broadleaf trees 8 8 tall grass 3 9 desert 11 10 tundra 13 11 irrigated crops 2 12 semidesert 11 13 ice caps and glaciers 14 bogs and marshes 4 15 evergreen shrubs 4 16 deciduous shrubs 4 17 mixed forest/woodland 7 18 interrupted forest 8
water_type(y,x)	NC_BYTE	_FillValue=-127b(*) coordinates grid_mapping long_name="water type classification" res_orig source units="1"	Bulk classification of water bodies. water_type overwrites the homogeneously prescribed setting via the namelist parameter water_type. water_type Description albedo_type 0 user defined 1 1 lake 1 2 river 1 3 ocean 1 4 pond 1 5 fountain 1
soil_type((zsoil)y,x)	NC_BYTE	_FillValue=-127b(*) coordinates grid_mapping lod long_name="water type classification" res_orig source units="1"	Bulk classification of soil in terms of porosity. soil_type overwrites the homogeneously prescribed setting via the namelist parameter soil_type. A soil type is need at all locations where either a vegetation_type or a pavement_type is set. In case lod = 1, a 2-dimensional vertically uniform soil texture is prescribed, while in case lod = 2 the 3-dimensional soil_type is set for each layer individually. soil_type Description 0 user defined 1 coarse 2 medium 3 medium-fine 4 fine 5 very fine 6 organic

Example static driver file:

soon.