Transcript Presentation

WRF Portal
(A GUI Front End For WRF)
WRF Domain Wizard
(A GUI Front End For WPS)
Presented by Jeff Smith
January 18, 2007
WRF Portal
A GUI Front End For WRF
Jeff Smith and Mark Govett
What is WRF Portal? -1

A GUI front end to WRF
 Simplifies
configuring and running WRF
 Monitors existing runs, giving users valuable feedback
on how their run(s) are progressing
 Stores information in a mySQL database, making it
easy for users to search through previous runs,
compare runs, etc.
 Includes an imbedded version of WRF Domain Wizard
(more on that later)
 Includes visualization capabilities (meteorological
charts and graphs—uses customized IDV library)
 Platform independent (e.g., Linux, Unix, Windows)
What is WRF Portal? -2

Also A Framework
 The
WRF Portal code and database was designed to
be a generic framework that can support other models
in the future with minimal code refactoring

Currently an alpha release tested at ESRL and at
DTC (Developmental Testbed Center)
WRF 2.1 Work Flow Diagram
Postprocessing
Preprocessing
Visualization
(GemPak or
NCAR graphics
Or RIP)
SI (Standard Initialization)
Gribprep
ETA Model
Output Files
(Eta212, Eta218)
Multiple runs
(for multiple
data sources)
Hinterp
Grib files, MOAD
ETA218
ETALSM
GFS
AVN
RUCHR
NNRP
NNRPSFC
SST
Data Root Dir
WRFSI GUI
Domain
Tool (runs
gridgen.exe)
Vinterp
Real
exe
NetCDF or binary
(one set of
WRF_BDY
WRF_INPUT
files per nest)
WRF
exe
Verification
Post Process
(several programs)
NetCDF
or binary
Grib files
(statistics and
graphs)
Bucket
WRF 2.1 Work Flow Diagram
Postprocessing
Preprocessing
Visualization
(GemPak or
NCAR graphics
Or RIP)
SI (Standard Initialization)
Gribprep
ETA Model
Output Files
(Eta212, Eta218)
Multiple runs
(for multiple
data sources)
Data Locator
Hinterp
Grib files, MOAD
ETA218
ETALSM
GFS
AVN
RUCHR
NNRP
NNRPSFC
SST
Data Root Dir
Vinterp
Real
exe
NetCDF or binary
(one set of
WRF_BDY
WRF_INPUT
files per nest)
WRF
exe
Verification
Post Process
(several programs)
NetCDF
or binary
Grib files
(statistics and
graphs)
Custom IDV
Version
WRFSI GUI
Domain
Tool (runs
gridgen.exe)
Note: Yellow boxes are currently simplified/automated by WRF Portal
Mixed color boxes will be partially simplified/automated by WRF Portal in the future.
WRF Portal Technical Information

Software is written in Java
 JRE
1.4x (or later)
 Uses Swing (JFC), JDBC, SSH-2 and SFTP
 Can be run directly from a web page (or from a
command line
 130 Java files, 33,000 lines of code

mySQL 5 database
 supports
flexible querying of namelists, user
preferences, configuration info, runs, etc.
 Referential integrity support
Architecture And Flow
Java Virtual Machine
on user’s computer (linux, windows, unix, etc.)
WRF Domain Wizard
Java workflow Manager
Visualization Tool
WRF config files like
namelists,workflow.xml,
workflow.log
SSH2 connection
JSch
SSH
library
WRF Portal UI
(Swing Application)
Linux or Unix computer running WRF
(supercomputer or workstation)
Reads config files, scripts,
creates dir, workflow.xml
Optional Ruby Workflow Mgr
Polls workflow.log
for progress info
Ruby Workflow Manager
Reads workflow.xml to determine
which jobs to run
WRF Portal Data Layer
(Plain Old Java Objects- POJO)
Optional-Java
workflow manager
Batch scheduler
workflow.log file
SQLExecutor - JDBC Framework
Job 1
Job 2
Firewall
(either opens port 3306, or SSH forwarding)
TCP/IP on port 3306 (default port)
Database Server
Stores all namelists,
model configurations,
runs, etc.
mySQL
Job 3
Interested Parties
Potential Beta Testers

Interested Parties
 Center
for Coastal Physical Oceanography in Norfolk
 Centre for Dev. Of Advanced Computing in India
 Weather Decision Technologies, in Norman OK
 National Weather Service in Jacksonville, FL
 NCAR/DTC
 NOAA and ESRL
Website: http://www.wrfportal.org
WRF Portal Screen Shot – Model Config
WRF Portal Screen Shot – Run Config
WRF Portal Screen Shot – Monitor Runs
WRF Portal Security

mySQL database
 WRF
Portal user logs in with username/password
which grants him the limited database access
 does not store any sensitive information such as
usernames or passwords to other computers
 database traffic sent via TCP/IP to port 3306 (or other
port), password is encrypted
 Security can be further enhanced by using SSH Port
forwarding to encrypt data coming and going

WRF Portal uses SSH2 to
 connect
to remote computer for reading/writing files
 run and monitor jobs
WRF Portal Future Work – Maybe

Grid enabled version
 Single

Create a web based monitoring piece
 Using


sign-on
Java web services
Ensembles
Port WRF Portal to other models
WRF Domain Wizard
GUI Front End For WPS
Jeff Smith and Paula McCaslin
What is WPS?




WRF Preprocessing System (WPS)
Developed at NCAR
Just released with WRF V2.2 and replaces the previous
WRF SI (standard initialization)
WPS is Three Programs



geogrid.exe – localizes the domain defined in namelist.wps and
creates a NetCDF output file. It extracts global geographical data
(e.g. soil moisture, vegetation, albedo, etc.) and maps it to the
domain projection.
ungrib.exe -- decodes and extracts atmospheric parameters from
GRIB files in order to initialize WRF
metgrid.exe -- combines the meteorological data from ungrib with
the NetCDF output from geogrid in order to produce a series of
NetCDF files that are used to initialize WRF.
What is WRF Domain Wizard?

Successor to the WRFSI GUI and is the graphical
user interface for WPS.
 Note:

the older WRFSI GUI is not compatible with WPS
Using this GUI, users
 define the region (and projection)
 define any nests
 run the WPS programs


of their domain on map
Can run as a standalone application (requiring no
database connection) or from within WRF Portal
Writes the domain information to namelist.wps, a
standard file defined by NCAR
Domain Wizard Technical Info

Software is written in Java
 JRE
1.4x (or later)
 Uses Swing (JFC) for GUI
 SSH-2 and SFTP to connect to remote computer (if
user is not running WPS locally)
 Can be deployed either from a web page as a Java
Web Start application or run from the command line
Architecture And Flow
Java Virtual Machine
user’s computer (linux, windows, etc.)
WRF Domain Wizard
(Swing Application)
WRF Domain Wizard Web Page
Java Web Start Link
http connection
Download App Link
Local I/O layer
(user downloads and runs
GUI from command line)
SSH I/O layer
Local or Remote Computer
Has WPS Installed On It
geogrid
ungrib
metgrid
namelist.wps,
WPS data
WPS Programs
Disk files
SSH2 connection
http://www.wrfportal.org/DomainWizard.html
Animated Tutorials On The Website -1
Animated Tutorials On The Website -2
Animated Tutorials On The Website -3
WRF Domain Wizard Future Work – Maybe

Visualize the WPS output files
 So
users could inspect them before initializing WRF
with them


More user interface enhancements
Port WRF Domain Wizard to other models
Thank You!
Any Questions?