How DART supports different types of observations: the preprocess program

DART’s preprocess program actually writes the source code that supports observations. This source code is then used by other modules.

The rationale for preprocess

Certain types of data require additional metadata in order to be assimilated. For example, while radiosondes only require the observation location in order to be assimilated, radar observations need extra metadata to specify the location of the radar in addition to the location of the observation. GPS occultations need the locations of the two satellites so the forward operator can integrate along the raypath. Cosmic ray soil moisture sensors have forward operators that require site-specific calibration parameters that are not part of the model and must be included in the observation metadata.

The potential examples are numerous.

Since each ‘observation quantity’ may require different amounts of metadata to be read or written, any routine to read or write an observation sequence must be compiled with support for those particular observations. This is the rationale for the inclusion of preprocess in DART. The supported observations are listed in the obs_kind_nml namelist in input.nml.

For this reason, we strongly recommend that you use the DART routines to read and process DART observation sequence files.

Important

You must actually run preprocess before building any executables. It is an essential part of DART that enables the same code to interface with multiple models and observation types. For example, preprocess allows DART to assimilate synthetic observations for the Lorenz_63 model and real radar reflectivities for WRF without needing to specify a set of radar operators for the Lorenz_63 model.

preprocess combines multiple obs_def and obs_quantity modules into one obs_def_mod.f90 that is then used by the rest of DART. Additionally, a new obs_kind_mod.f90 is built that will provide support for associating the specific observation TYPES with corresponding (generic) observation QUANTITIES.

The list of obs_def and obs_quantity module source codes are contained in the &preprocess_nml namelist in input.nml. These modules determine what observations and operators are supported.

Warning

If you want to add another obs_def module, you must rerun preprocess and recompile the rest of your project.

Example preprocess namelist

As an example, if a preprocess_nml namelist in input.nml looks like:

&preprocess_nml
    input_obs_kind_mod_file  = '../../../assimilation_code/modules/observations/DEFAULT_obs_kind_mod.F90'
    output_obs_kind_mod_file = '../../../assimilation_code/modules/observations/obs_kind_mod.f90'
    quantity_files           = '../../../assimilation_code/modules/observations/atmosphere_quantities_mod.f90',
    input_obs_def_mod_file   = '../../../observations/forward_operators/DEFAULT_obs_def_mod.F90'
    obs_type_files           = '../../../observations/forward_operators/obs_def_gps_mod.f90',
                               '../../../observations/forward_operators/obs_def_QuikSCAT_mod.f90',
                               '../../../observations/forward_operators/obs_def_GWD_mod.f90',
                               '../../../observations/forward_operators/obs_def_altimeter_mod.f90',
                               '../../../observations/forward_operators/obs_def_reanalysis_bufr_mod.f90'
    output_obs_def_mod_file  = '../../../observations/forward_operators/obs_def_mod.f90'
    /

preprocess will combine the following modules:

  • DEFAULT_obs_def_mod.F90

  • obs_def_gps_mod.f90

  • obs_def_QuikSCAT_mod.f90

  • obs_def_GWD_mod.f90

  • obs_def_altimeter_mod.f90

  • and obs_def_reanalysis_bufr_mod.f90

into obs_def_mod.f90. This resulting module can be used by the rest of the project.

Building and running preprocess

Since preprocess is an executable, it must be compiled following the procedure of all DART executables:

  1. The DART/build_templates/mkmf.template must be correct for your environment.

  2. The preprocess_nml namelist in input.nml must be set properly with the modules you want to use.

If those two conditions are met, you can build and run preprocess using these commands:

$ csh mkmf_preprocess
$ make
$ ./preprocess

The first command generates an appropriate Makefile and the input.nml.preprocess_default file. The second command results in the compilation of a series of Fortran90 modules which ultimately produces the preprocess executable file. The third command actually runs preprocess - which builds the new obs_kind_mod.f90 and obs_def_mod.f90 source code files. Once these source code files are created, you can now build the rest of DART.