NetCDF data output

PALM is able to output data of different quantities as time series, vertical profiles (usually horizontally averaged), two-dimensional cross sections or 3d-volume data. Depending on the kind of output (time series, profiles, etc.) and the output format (ASCII or binary) data are written to different files (file descriptions can be found here). All data output files are in netCDF format (​http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/software/netcdf/), which can be processed by many public domain and commercial (graphic) software. Data from netCDF files can also be easily read from Fortran programs provided that a netCDF library is available.

The format of netCDF files generated by PALM is determined by the runtime-parameter netcdf_data_format. The accuracy of the netCDF output data can be set with parameter netcdf_precision. By default, data have single (4 byte) precision.

The following table gives an overview about the different kind of netCDF output data offered by PALM. In addition to the local names of the files, the table also lists the minimum parameter settings which are necessary to switch on the output, as well as the parameters to be used to control the output.

Kind of data	Local filename	Parameter settings necessary to switch on output	Further parameters for output control
vertical profiles	DATA_1D_PR_NETCDF	data_output_pr, dt_data_output (or dt_dopr)	averaging_interval, (or averaging_interval_pr), netcdf_data_format, dt_averaging_input, dt_averaging_input_pr, skip_time_data_output (or skip_time_dopr), statistic_regions
timeseries	DATA_1D_TS_NETCDF	dt_dots	netcdf_data_format, statistic_regions
spectra	DATA_1D_SP_NETCDF	comp_spectra_level, data_output_sp, dt_data_output (or dt_dosp), spectra_direction	averaging_interval (or averaging_interval_sp), netcdf_data_format, dt_averaging_input_pr, skip_time_data_output (or skip_time_dosp)
2d cross section (xy)	DATA_2D_XY_NETCDF	data_output (or data_output_user), dt_data_output (or dt_do2d_xy), section_xy	netcdf_data_format, data_output_2d_on_each_pe, do2d_at_begin, skip_time_data_output (or skip_time_do2d_xy)
2d cross section (xy), time-averaged	DATA_2D_XY_AV_NETCDF	data_output (or data_output_user), dt_data_output (or dt_data_output_av or dt_do2d_xy), section_xy	averaging_interval, dt_averaging_input, netcdf_data_format, data_output_2d_on_each_pe, do2d_at_begin, skip_time_data_output (or skip_time_data_output_av, or skip_time_do2d_xy)
2d cross section (xz)	DATA_2D_XZ_NETCDF	data_output (or data_output_user), dt_data_output (or dt_do2d_xz), section_xz	netcdf_data_format, data_output_2d_on_each_pe, do2d_at_begin, skip_time_data_output, (skip_time_do2d_xz
2d cross section (xz), time-averaged	DATA_2D_XZ_AV_NETCDF	data_output (or data_output_user), dt_data_output (or dt_data_output_av or dt_do2d_xz), section_xz	averaging_interval, dt_averaging_input, netcdf_data_format, data_output_on_each_pe, do2d_at_begin, skip_time_data_output (or skip_time_data_output_av, or doc/app/runtime_parameters)
2d cross section (yz)	DATA_2D_YZ_NETCDF	data_output, (or data_output_user), dt_data_output (or dt_do2d_yz, section_yz	netcdf_data_format, data_output_2d_on_each_pe, do2d_at_begin, skip_time_data_output (or skip_time_do2d_yz
2d cross section (yz), time-averaged	DATA_2D_YZ_AV_NETCDF	data_output (or data_output_user), dt_data_output (or dt_data_output_av or dt_do2d_yz), section_yz	averaging_interval, dt_averaging_input, netcdf_data_format, data_output_2d_on_each_pe, do2d_at_begin, skip_time_data_output (or skip_time_data_output_av, or skip_time_do2d_yz, or skip_time_do2d_yz)
3d volume	DATA_3D_NETCDF	data_output (or data_output_user), or dt_data_output (or dt_do3d)	netcdf_data_format, do3d_at_begin, nz_do3d, skip_time_data_output (or skip_time_do3d)
3d volume, time-averaged	DATA_3D_AV_NETCDF	data_output, (or data_output_user), dt_data_output (or dt_data_output_av or dt_do3d)	averaging_interval, dt_averaging_input, netcdf_data_format, do3d_at_begin, nz_do3d, skip_time_data_output (or skip_time_data_output_av, or skip_time_do3d)
particle timeseries	DATA_1D_PTS_NETCDF	dt_data_output (or dt_dopts)
particle attributes	DATA_PRT_NETCDF	dt_write_particle_data
agent attributes	DATA_AGT_NETCDF	dt_write_agent_data	dim_size_agtnum_manual, dim_size_factor_agtnum

In addition to the kinds of data mentioned above, it is possible to output quantities at arbitrary locations by using the masked data output.