WRF Nesting

Presentation by
Dave Gill
Matthew Pyle

Nesting Basics - What is a nest

A nest is a finer-resolution model run. It may be embedded
simultaneously within a coarser-resolution (parent) model run, or
run independently as a separate model forecast.
The nest covers a portion of the parent domain, and is driven along
its lateral boundaries by the parent domain.
Nesting enables running at finer resolution without the following
problems:
Uniformly high resolution over a large domain - prohibitively
expensive
High resolution for a very small domain with mismatched time
and spatial lateral boundary conditions

Nesting Basics - NMM

The focus is on static, one-way nesting
Static: The nest location is fixed in space
One-way: Information exchange between the parent and the
nest is strictly down-scale. The nest solution does not feedback
to the coarser/parent solution.

The upcoming Spring WRF 2008 release supports the two-way

nesting capability

Nesting Basics - ARW

One-way nesting via multiple model forecasts
One-way nesting with a single model forecast, without feedback
One-way/two-way nesting with a single input file, all fields
interpolated from the coarse grid
One-way/two-way nesting with multiple input files, each domain
with a full input data file
One-way/two-way nesting with the coarse grid data including all
meteorological fields, and the fine-grid domains including only the
static files
One-way/two-way nesting with a specified move for each nest
One-way/two-way nesting with a automatic move on the nest
determined through 500 mb low tracking

Some Nesting Hints

Allowable domain specifications

Defining a starting point
Illegal domain specifications
1-way vs 2-way nesting

Two nests on the same level, with a common

parent domain
Nest #1

Parent
domain

Nest #2

Two levels of nests, with nest #1 acting as the parent

for nest #2
Parent
domain
Nest #1

Nest #2

These are all OK

Telescoped to any depth
Any number of siblings

1
4
2
3

Some Nesting Hints

Allowable domain specifications

Defining a starting point
Illegal domain specifications
1-way vs 2-way nesting

ARW Coarse Grid Staggering

i_parent_start
j_parent_start

ARW Coarse Grid Staggering 3:1 Ratio

Starting
Location
I = 31

CG 30

31

32

33

34

ARW Coarse Grid Staggering 3:1 Ratio

Feedback:
U : column
V : row
T : cell

NMM Coarse/Fine Overlay

NMM Telescopic E-Grid

Interpolations are done on the rotated latitude/longitude projection.
The fine grid is coincident with a portion of the high-resolution grid
that covers the entire coarse grid.
The nested domain can be placed anywhere within the parent domain
and the nested grid cells will exactly overlap the parent cells at the
coincident cell boundaries.
Coincident parent/nest grid points eliminate the need for complex,
generalized remapping calculations, and is expected to enhance model
performance and portability.
The grid design was created with moving nests in mind.

An odd grid ratio introduces parent/nest points being

coincident, and a 3:1 ratio is preferred as it has been
extensively tested.
H

nest dx

parent dx

Some Nesting Hints

Allowable domain specifications

Defining a starting point
Illegal domain specifications
1-way vs 2-way nesting

Not OK for 2-way

Child domains may not have overlapping points in the
parent domain (1-way nesting excluded).
1

Not OK either
Domains have one, and only one, parent (domain 4 is NOT acceptable even with 1-way nesting)

1
3
2
4

Some Nesting Hints

Allowable domain specifications

Defining a starting point
Illegal domain specifications
1-way vs 2-way nesting

Nesting Performance
The size of the nested domain may need to be
chosen with computing performance in mind.
Assuming a 3:1 ratio and the same number of grid
cells in the parent and nest domains, the fine grid
will require 3x as many time steps to keep pace
with the coarse domain.
A simple nested domain forecast is approximately
4x the cost of just the coarse domain.

NMM: Initial Conditions

Simple horizontal bilinear interpolation of the parent initial conditions
is used to initialize all meteorological fields on the nest.
A nearest-neighbor approach is adopted for prescribing most of the
land-state variables.
Topography and land-sea mask are redefined over the nested domain
using the appropriate nest level of WPS info from geogrid (or wrfsi
static dataset).
Quasi-hydrostatic mass balancing is carried out after introducing the
high-resolution topography

ARW: 2-Way Nest with 2 Inputs

Coarse and fine grid domains must
start at the same time, fine domain may
end at any time

WPS
FG
WPS
CG

Feedback may be shut off to produce

a 1-way nest (cell face and cell average)
Any integer ratio for coarse to fine is
permitted, odd is usually chosen for
real-data cases
Options are available to ingest only the
static fields from the fine grid, with the
coarse grid data horizontally interpolated
to the nest

real.exe
CG: multiple times
FG: one time

wrf d01
input

wrf d01
bdy

wrf.exe
WRF
CG + FG

wrf d02
input

ARW: 2-Way Nest with 2 Inputs

No vertical nesting
Usually the same physics are run on all
of the domains (excepting cumulus)

WPS
FG
WPS
CG

The grid distance ratio is not strictly tied

to the time step ratio
Topography smoothly ramps from coarse
grid to the fine grid along the interface
along the nest boundary
All fine grids must use the nested lateral
boundary condition

real.exe
CG: multiple times
FG: one time

wrf d01
input

wrf d01
bdy

wrf.exe
WRF
CG + FG

wrf d02
input

ARW: 2-Way Nest with 1 Input

WPS
CG

real CG
multi-times

ideal CG
Single time

wrf
input

wrf
input

wrf CG+FG
full fcst

wrf
bdy

wrf CG+FG
full fcst

ARW: 2-Way Nest with 1 Input

A single namelist column entry is tied to each
domain

WPS
CG

The horizontal interpolation method, feedback,

and smoothing are largely controlled through
the Registry file
For a 3:1 time step ratio, after the coarse grid
is advanced, the lateral boundaries for the fine
grid are computed, the fine grid is advanced
three time steps, then the fine grid is fed back
to the coarse grid (recursively, depth first)
Helpful run*.tar files are located in the
./WRFV2/test/em_real directory

real CG
multi-times

wrf
input

wrf
bdy

wrf CG+FG
full fcst

ndown: 1-Way Nest with 2 Inputs

WPS
FG

WPS
CG

real CG
multi-times

wrf
input

wrf
bdy

real FG
single time

wrf
input

Same restrictions for nest ratios

Can start at any time that an output time
from the coarse grid was created
Boundary condition frequency for the
fine grid is set to coarse grid output
frequency

wrf CG
full fcst

wrf
out

Separate WRF forecast runs, separate

real pre-processor runs, intervening
ndown.exe run

ndown
CG fcst +
FG initial

wrf
input
wrf
bdy

wrf FG
full fcst

Some Nesting Hints

Allowable domain specifications

Defining a starting point
Illegal domain specifications
1-way vs 2-way nesting
Nest logic in WRF source code
Nest information in the Registry

Allocate and Initialize a Nest

DO WHILE ( nests_to_open( grid , nestid , kid ) )
a_nest_was_opened = .true.
CALL med_pre_nest_initial ( grid , nestid , &
config_flags )
CALL alloc_and_configure_domain ( &
domain_id = nestid ,
&
grid
= new_nest , &
parent
= grid ,
&
kid
= kid
)
CALL Setup_Timekeeping (new_nest)
CALL med_nest_initial ( grid , new_nest, &
config_flags )
END DO

All Siblings get Processed

DO WHILE ( ASSOCIATED( grid_ptr ) )
CALL set_current_grid_ptr( grid_ptr )
CALL solve_interface ( grid_ptr )
CALL domain_clockadvance ( grid_ptr )
CALL domain_time_test( grid_ptr, &
'domain_clockadvance' )
grid_ptr => grid_ptr%sibling
END DO

Recursive Nest Depth

DO kid = 1, max_nests
IF ( ASSOCIATED( grid_ptr%nests(kid)%ptr ) ) THEN
CALL set_current_grid_ptr( grid_ptr%nests(kid)%ptr )
CALL med_nest_force ( grid_ptr , &
grid_ptr%nests(kid)%ptr , config_flags )
grid_ptr%nests(kid)%ptr%start_subtime = &
domain_get_current_time(grid) - &
domain_get_time_step(grid)
grid_ptr%nests(kid)%ptr%stop_subtime = &
domain_get_current_time(grid)
CALL integrate ( grid_ptr%nests(kid)%ptr )
CALL med_nest_feedback ( grid_ptr , &
grid_ptr%nests(kid)%ptr , config_flags )
END IF
END DO

Input vs Interpolating
CALL med_interp_domain( parent, nest )
CALL init_domain_constants ( parent, nest )
IF ( nest_config_flags%input_from_file ) THEN
IF ( nest_config_flags%input_from_file ) THEN
CALL med_initialdata_input_ptr( nest , &
nest_config_flags )
ENDIF

Feedback and Domain Sync-ing

CALL med_nest_feedback ( parent , nest , &
config_flags )
CALL start_domain ( nest , .TRUE. )
CALL start_domain ( parent , .TRUE. )

NMM Nested LBCs

Nest boundaries generally are treated in the

same way as the standard parent domain
boundaries:
outermost row is prescribed
two rows in from boundary is freely
integrating
in between is a blending zone (average
of outermost and freely integrating
points)

The one key difference is frequency of

boundary updates: nested boundaries are
updated at every time step of the parent
domain.

NMM Mass Balancing for LBCs

The parent domain geopotential height, temperature, and
moisture are all vertically interpolated (cubic splines) from the
hybrid surfaces onto standard isobaric levels.
Using horizontally interpolated information of the height field
from the parent domain, and high-resolution topography from the
nest level, mass is adjusted and revised hybrid surfaces are
constructed.
T and q: 1) horizontally interpolated to the nest domain on
standard pressure levels, 2) vertically interpolated onto the new
hybrid surfaces
Approach produces an effective way of updating the nest
interface without much distortion or noise

ARW Lateral Smoothing

Intermediate Domains - Part 1

grid => nested_grid%intermediate_grid
CALL alloc_space_field ( grid, grid%id , 1 , 2 , .TRUE. ,
grid => parent_grid
CALL model_to_grid_config_rec ( grid%id , &
model_config_rec , config_flags )
CALL couple_or_uncouple_em ( grid , config_flags ,.true. &
#
include "em_actual_new_args.inc )
grid => nested_grid
CALL model_to_grid_config_rec ( grid%id , &
model_config_rec , config_flags )
CALL couple_or_uncouple_em ( grid , config_flags ,.true. &
#
include "em_actual_new_args.inc )

Intermediate Domains - Part 1

grid => parent_grid
CALL model_to_grid_config_rec ( grid%id ,
model_config_rec , config_flags )
CALL interp_domain_em_part1 ( grid , &
nested_grid%intermediate_grid, nested_grid, &
config_flags
&
#
include "em_actual_new_args.inc )

Intermediate Domains - Part 2

grid => nested_grid%intermediate_grid
CALL model_to_grid_config_rec ( nested_grid%id , &
model_config_rec , config_flags )
CALL force_domain_em_part2 ( grid, nested_grid, &
config_flags
&
#
include "em_actual_new_args.inc")
grid => nested_grid
CALL model_to_grid_config_rec ( grid%id , &
model_config_rec , config_flags )
CALL couple_or_uncouple_em ( grid , config_flags ,.false. &
#
include "em_actual_new_args.inc" )
grid => parent_grid
CALL model_to_grid_config_rec ( grid%id , &
model_config_rec , config_flags )
CALL couple_or_uncouple_em ( grid , config_flags ,.false. &
#
include "em_actual_new_args.inc" )

Intermediate Domains

The intermediate domain between a parent and a child is the

resolution of the coarse grid over the size of the fine grid. It
allows the model to re-decompose the domain among all of
the processors.

Masked Interpolation

Masked Feedback

Some Nesting Hints

Allowable domain specifications

Defining a starting point
Illegal domain specifications
1-way vs 2-way nesting
Nest logic in WRF source code
Nest information in the Registry

What are those usdf Options

state real u ikjb dyn_em 2 X \
i01rhusdf=(bdy_interp:dt) \
"U" "x-wind component" "m s-1
f defines what lateral boundary forcing routine (found in
share/interp_fcn.F) is utilized, colon separates the
additional fields that are required (must be previously
defined in the Registry)

What are those usdf Options

state real landmask ij misc 1 - \
i012rhd=(interp_fcnm)u=(copy_fcnm)\
"LANDMASK" "LAND MASK (1=LAND, 0=WATER)"
u and d define which feedback (up-scale) and horizontal
interpolation (down-scale) routines (found in
share/interp_fcn.F) are utilized
Default values (i.e. not a subroutine name listed in the
parentheses) assume non-masked fields
At compile-time, users select options

What are those usdf Options

state real ht ij misc 1
"Terrain Height"
"m"

- i012rhdus

"HGT" \

s if the run-time option for smoothing is activated, this field is

to be smoothed - only used for the parent of a nest domain,
smoothing is in the area of the nest, excluding the outer row
and column of the nest coverage
Whether or not smoothing is enabled is a run-time option from
the namelist

Special IO Stream #2 Fields

state real msft ij misc 1 - \
i012rhdu=(copy_fcnm) "MAPFAC_M"
\
"Map scale factor on mass grid" "
state real msfu ij misc 1 X \
i012rhdu=(copy_fcnm) "MAPFAC_U"
"Map scale factor on u-grid" "

state real msfv ij misc 1 Y \

i012rhdu=(copy_fcnm) "MAPFAC_V"
"Map scale factor on v-grid" ""