I don't have too much time left here, but I've made some significant progress. I'm able to run WRF just fine, and I've run through several of the test cases provided on the online tutorial. I've installed (configured and compiled) WRF/Chem and it seems to work just fine without any chemistry (I have one running right now), and my goal for today is to get something running with actual chemistry. That is the main goal of this trip: to get WRF/Chem running.
It is very nice to have people around that can answer questions. I still feel bad taking up their time, but I keep reminding myself that I enjoy helping someone out, as long as they are not too demanding. Katrina works a few cubicles over and she's been a real help, and then Alma is down one floor (who is also going to be working on this EPA grant), and she's also giving me boatloads of guidance.
It's strange, because Peter is not at all familiar with WRF/Chem, so I cannot go to him for help. I can (and do) go to him for guidance and advice. But for the most part for this project, this WRF/Chem is going to be my baby. And I am enjoying this process. Well, not in the sense that I would chose to do this everyday with my free time, but I do like the process (the careful planning and positioning of the right input files, the careful selection of the namelist variables and specifics of the run, and then the little burst of endorphins that I get when I see the phrase "Successful Completion of XXX"). This is an incredible powerful tool, and I have increasing control over it. I can do a lot with this.
It is also reassuring that I am picking up the intricacies of modeling much more quickly than last summer, where I struggled for months to get the CCSM global climate model running. This one is similar in some senses, and very different in others. But I have enough of a basic understanding that the differences were more in context, and easier to incorporate into my understanding and conceptualization of the model.
I'm trying really hard to write down and log what I'm doing here. I am learning a lot of intricacies, and I often have trouble remembering these things after I'm done. I'm typing up little rubrics, or step-by-step guides to the basic operation of these things. I know that the manuals have these as well, but if I take the time to write it and fix it and make sure it works, I have a better chance at being able to remember the details later on. And, because I intend to show as many detailed slices of this life as I can, here's an example this rubric:
Yay computer modeling! To put things in perspective, once you have learned how to run the model, what will you do with it? Or are you in the tool gathering phase, not the question asking phase?
ReplyDelete