License
Only licensed users are provided with the username and password to access the OpenIFS ftp site. OpenIFS is provided free-of-charge per institution. Please see OpenIFS Licensing for more details or email openifs-support@ecmwf.int.
OpenIFS directory layout
The OpenIFS installation consists of (i) OpenIFS source code; (ii) OpenIFS auxiliary files (climatologies, radiation tables, vertical coord tables). Both types are provided as gzipped tarfiles.
It's recommended that the OpenIFS auxiliary files are stored in a separate directory, typically named 'ifsdata' and not within the model source code. As discussed in the previous section, the ecCodes GRIB library could be stored under a directory called 'ecmwf' available to other users. The auxiliary files could be stored in the same location.
Layout of OpenIFS auxiliary files: ifsdata
Download instructions for the auxiliary files are below. They are provided as gzipped tarfiles and unpack into the directory structure shown below.
For OpenIFS version '40r1' the layout is very similar, except 'climate.v015' is called 'climate' (43r3 uses an updated climatology).
Note that the 'ifsdata' directory needs to be created first.
Layout of OpenIFS source files
Download instructions for the OpenIFS source files are below. The gzipped tarfile will unpack into a directory structure shown below (not all sub-directories are shown for brevity).
Other versions of OpenIFS may have different directories and directory names but will be similar to the figure below.
OpenIFS ftp site contents
All the files related to the OpenIFS models are available from the ftp site: ftp.ecmwf.int. If you do not have ftp site password, please email : openifs-support@ecmwf.int. Only licensed institutes are provided with access.
The OpenIFS models are distributed as compressed tarfiles and include source code, auxiliary datafiles and supporting software. Once logged into the ftp site you will see the following directories:
| Contents of ftp.ecmwf.int | Description |
|---|---|
| case_studies/ | Some example forecast experiments (initial data & namelists). |
| data/ | OpenIFS auxiliary data files (described above). |
| src/openifs/ | OpenIFS source code tar files. |
| src/scm/ | Single Column model code and files. |
| src/osm-htessel/ | Offline Surface Model (HTESSEL) code and files. |
| metview/ | Metview macros for use with OpenIFS. |
| user_workshops/ | Files used in OpenIFS user workshops. |
| users/ | User group specific space. Model initial files provided for users will be found here. |
| Contents of directory src/openifs: | Description |
|---|---|
| src/openifs/43r3/ | Contains OpenIFS versions based on Cycle 43 Release 3 of the operational IFS. |
| src/openifs/40r1/ | Contains OpenIFS versions based on Cycle 40 Release 1 of the operational IFS. |
Download OpenIFS source code
To obtain the source code from the ftp site, change directory to the '43r3' directory and retrieve the latest source code (the filename may be different):
% ftp ftp.ecmwf.int user: openifs pass: <enter the password given to you by openifs-support> cd src/openifs/43r3 ls get oifs43r3v1.tar.gz get md5sum.txt quit
Verify download
Download the md5sum.txt file to verify the download was correct.
% md5sum --check md5sum.txt oifs43r3v1.tar.gz: O
Using lftp instead of ftp
If your site or workstation only provides the 'lftp' command rather than 'ftp', proceed as shown below:
% lftp ftp.ecmwf.int lftp ftp.ecmwf.int:~> set ftp:ssl-allow no lftp ftp.ecmwf.int:~> user openifs Password: <enter the password lftp openifs@ftp.ecmwf.int:/> cd src/openifs/43r3 lftp openifs@ftp.ecmwf.int:/src/openifs/43r3/> get oifs43r3v1.tar.gz lftp openifs@ftp.ecmwf.int:/src/openifs/43r3/> get md5sum.txt lftp openifs@ftp.ecmwf.int:/src/openifs/43r3/> exit
The 'set ftp:ssl-allow no' command is crucial to allow lftp to work with the ftp server at ECMWF. It disables use of a secure connection.
Remember to use the md5sum command (shown above) to verify the download was correct.
Unpack OpenIFS source code
Unpack the gzipped tarfile into a directory:
% tar zxf oifs43r3v1.tar.gz % ls oifs43r3v1 CHANGES COPYING NOTICE READMEs examples make src t21test_xios CITE LICENSE README bin fcm oifs-config.editme.sh t21test tools
If your version of the 'tar' command does not support gzipped archives then do it in two stages:
% gzip -d oifs40r1v2.tar.gz % tar xf oifs40r1v2.tar
Download OpenIFS auxiliary data files
The data directory contains the following gzipped tarfiles, all of which should be downloaded.
| Contents of directory data: | Description |
|---|---|
| 40r1/ | Contains data files for versions of OpenIFS 40r1. |
| 43r3/ | Contains data files for versions of OpenIFS 43r3. |
These files are the same for all OpenIFS experiments. To save space for multiple users, it's recommended they are placed somewhere central and not copied to each user run directory. The sample job scripts provided assume that links are created from these files to the user run directory.
We suggest creating a directory ifsdata somewhere and unpacking the files there.
| Filename | Size | Description |
|---|---|---|
| <version>/ifsdata_climatology_<version>.tgz | 15Mb | Contains the various long-lived gases and aerosol climatologies used by the model.e.g. files C11CLIM, MCICA, etc. Unpacks into a directory called <version>/ifsdata. |
| <version>/ifsdata_<version>_climate_<res>.tgz | varies | Contains ozone climatology for all supported horizontal and vertical resolutions, including full and reduced Gaussian grid versions. Unpacks into a directory: <version>/climate/<resolution><grid_type>. These contain data split one file per horizontal resolution with a suffix that corresponds to the type of model grid. For example '40r1/climate/159l_2', would correspond to the OpenIFS 40r1 model release, with a T159 linear grid. For further explanation of the model grid types, please see the user guide section. If you want to save space, you can download just the resolutions you intend working with. |
| <version>/ifsdata_rtables_<version>.tgz | <1Mb | Contains namelists defining the supported grid resolutions for the radiation scheme. File name suffix refers to the type of grid and last 3 digits refers to the horizontal resolution. Unpacks to a directory: <version>/rtables |
| <version>/ifsdata_vtables_<version>.tgz | <1Mb | Contains namelists defining the coefficients for the supported vertical resolutions. File name suffix refers to the number of levels. Unpacks to a directory: <version>/vtables. |
| <version>/ifsdata_namelist_<version>.tgz | <1Mb | Contains the full model namelist set for this OpenIFS version. Unpacks to a directory: <version>/namelist. |
To unpack the files either use the tar zxf command if your version of tar supports the 'z' option, or use gunzip followed by tar xf.
% mkdir oifs/ifsdata % cd oifs/ifsdata % ftp ftp.ecmwf.int Connected to ftp.ecmwf.int. Name (ftp.ecmwf.int): openifs 331 User openifs OK. Password required ftp> cd data/40r1 ftp> prompt ftp> mget ifsdata_*.tgz ftp> quit % for ff in *.tgz; do tar zxf $ff; done % rm *.tar.gz
OpenIFS 40r1 expects the vtables and rtables directories to be at the same directory level as the 40r1 directory. This was changed in later versions of OpenIFS.
To allow for this, make links from the 'oifs/ifsdata' created above:
% cd oifs/ifsdata % ln -s 40r1/vtables vtables % ln -s 40r1/rtables rtables % ls 40r1 vtables rtables
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