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    v_4.8.12.u   (GEM4.8)
    v_5.0.0   (GEM5.0)
    v_5.1.1   (GEM5.1.1)

Whenever you have problems with a simulation, let me know what the problem seems to be and where I can find your config files!

These are the needed config files:

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This file is a shell parameter file which gets sourced by the scripts. You can put comments in it like in any other shell script and there must never be a space before or after the '=' sign. The parameters set here determine:

• name of experiment (always keep *_YYYYMM and the end of the name)
• start and end date
• model time step
• model levels
• number of cores to run on
• where to find the input files
• where to archive the output
• control output of pilot files
• ...

When running UQAM style there are several more parameters to be set than in ECCC's forecast mode. These extra parameters all start with 'CLIMAT_...'.

General GEM parameters:

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Keep in mind that the minimum number of grid points for a GEM tile is ~25:
   pilot region (Grd_maxcfl+7)  + blending (Lam_blend_H (default 10))  + 5 points
If you change the tiling and your simulation suddenly crashes right at the beginning of the model executable it might be that the tiling you chose does not work for this grid. Choose another tiling and try again.
In general you want to keep your tiles as square as possible to keep the amount of data exchange between tiles to a minimum.

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Extra parameters when running "UQAM style":

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If you want to start a new simulation I suggest you copy a set of config files from another simulation, which is as close as possible to the one you want to run and then modify them.

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gem_settings.nml  

This file contains Fortran namelists which will be read by the model. This means you cannot put any comments inside the namelists, but only in between them!
This file is very sensitive to errors. Even a missing '.' can make the model crash and all you will get is a message saying that there is an error in a specific namelist and it is up to you to find this error.

The parameters set here determine:

• model grid
• model (and driving data) time step
• output file formats (monthly/daily/..., etiket)
• advection & diffusion
• spectral nudging
• physics (radiation/convection/surface/...) schemes
• ...

For more information have a look at an extract of RPN's wiki pages:
        GEM_4.8.lts12 namelists
        GEM_5.0.0 namelists
In climate mode the following parameters will be set automatically, according to certain parameters in your 'configexp.cfg':

• 'Step_runstrt_S' and 'Fcst_end_S' (according to start date and current month)
• 'hyb' and 'Grd_rcoef' (according to 'CLIMAT_etaname')
• Greenhouse gas concentrations:  qcfc12, qcfc11, qch4, qn2o, qco2 (according to ${CLIMAT_ghg_list})

outcfg.out  

This file gets evaluated by the model. It does not tolerate any comments. As soon as the model finds only one character out of place it will ignore the rest of the file. It controls the RPN standard file output such:

• output grid (model/core/free)
• output frequency (in steps or hours)
• output levels (model/pressure)
• and which fields will be written

Have a look at the general description on our wiki: outcfg.out

A list of all model variables available for output can be found at the beginning of each model listing.
Note that this list varies depending on the schemes used!
A list of the most common fields can also be found under: RPN variable names

When running the UQAM version of GEM for output intervals ('steps=#,hour,<start,end,inc>';) the start and end hour (or step) will get updated automatically! Only for the first job in a run the start hour (or step) has to be set by the user!

You can find an example file further down on this page under: outcfg.out example

If you set one of the following 3 parameters in your configexp.dot file:

    CLIMAT_out_anal
    CLIMAT_out_pilot
    CLIMAT_out_offline

additional lines will automatically get added to your outcfg.out file to output initial condition files (prefix=an), pilot files (prefix=nm) or fields to drive an offline model like SPS (prefix=ol).

outcfg.out example:

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physics_input_table

The ‘physics_input_table’ contains a list of all your physics input fields. This includes all the geophysical fields (GEOP), fields to be read from the initial condition file (ANAL), fields read from the climatological file specified in ‘GEM_climato‘ (CLIM) as well as fields from the analyzed climatological file, ‘GEM_anclima’, like for ‘TM’ and ‘LG’ (INREP).

There is one row per field to be read with the following parameters:

    in : name of field to be read
    freq : frequency at which field will be read. 0: initial time step; 1: whenever it is found; 2: ???
    search : shortcut of file to look for field. A list of files can be given.
    Interp : horizontal interpolation type. Options: linear, near, cubic
    timeint: linear, step, any, near

Examples:

    in=VF;   freq=0;   search=GEOP;       interp=near;   levels= 1,26;
    in=SD;   freq=0;   search=ANAL;       interp=near;   levels= 1,7;
    in=TM;   freq=0,1; search=ANAL,INREP; interp=linear; timeint=near
    in=LG;   freq=0,1; search=ANAL,INREP; interp=near;   timeint=near

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