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EdGCM on Your Hard Disk

There are four main components to the EdGCM software suite: the EdGCM 4D folder hierarchy, which provised the organizational framework for the suite; the 4th Dimension® database, which provides the structure for the EdGCM 4D interface and database, and integrates the two; the GISS GCM Model II, the GCM at the heart of this software package; and the visualization software - EVA, SuSpect, and Panoply - that permit the simulation data to be displayed and more easily understood.

The EdGCM 4D Folder Heirarchy

EdGCM incorporates a large folder hierarchy to integrate the graphical user interface with the GCM, the database, the visualization programs, and a host of other utility programs. This hierarchical structure is absolutely necessary to the proper function of EdGCM and its components, so users should not rename, delete, or move any of the folders within the EdGCM 4D folder. However, the EdGCM 4D folder itself can be moved as long as no programs are running and the internal organization of the folder is not altered.

The Applications folder contains all the Fortran programs to analyze output and many other support files. It also contains copies of parts of the EdGCM Suite, but may not contain the most up-to-date versions. Users should not change the contents of this folder unless specifically informed to do so by an update message.

The Database folder contains the EdGCM interface and ALL of the information about the simulations. Never replace the contents of this folder with those from another computer since this will overwrite all of your simulations''' Similarly, if you delete this file you will lose all information about your simulations.

The Data folder contains tables of greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations (measured and projected) for 1850-2050, and values for the solar constant for 1500-1998. There is also a link to additional datasets for a variety of observations available from the GISS web site (http://data.giss.nasa.gov).

The Docs folder contains several important documents, most in Adobe Acrobat format, including: 1) this installation guide; 2) the paper describing the GISS GCM Model II (Hansen et al., 1983 first appeared in the American Meteorological Society’s Monthly Weather Review journal); 3) the original proposal to the National Science Foundation that funded EdGCM; and 4) an EdGCM presentation poster from the Geological Society of America’s 2003 annual meeting in Seattle.

The eJournals folder contains any eJournals that have been exported for use on the web via the “eJournal to web” command in EdGCM (see the toolbar when the eJournal window is open). The individual folders contained inside the eJournal folder can be copied to any website or e-mailed to us if you wish to have them considered for publication on the EdGCM website.

The Images folder contains any images you wish to make available through EdGCM’s Image Browser utility. If folders containing images are removed or added to the Images folder, it is necessary to click on the “Update” button inside EdGCM (see the toolbar when the Image Browser is open). The Image Browser will accept any images that are stored in a QuickTime compatible format. This does NOT, however, include images in the “gif” format.

The Input, Input Oceans and Input Forcings folders contain boundary conditions and initial condition files that are used by the GISS GCM. Since these files are necessary for initializing runs, deleting files from either of these folders is not recommended because it may destroy your ability to set up and run simulations. Adding files to these folders, while not damaging to simulations, will cause clutter in various menus within the EdGCM interface. It is best to add files to these folders only when instructed to do by an update message.

The Multimedia folder will contain a series of tutorial QuickTime videos about using EdGCM’s features, once updated videos are complete. Check http://www.edgcm.columbia.edu for news on updated video availability.

The Output folder contains output from any simulations that have been run using EdGCM. Each time a new simulation is started, a “run folder” is created inside the Output folder. Run folders are named after the “run ID” in the Setup Simulation window. Any run folder is basically a stand-alone simulation that could theoretically be moved, intact, to another computer and started. However, we recommend that you leave the run folders within the EdGCM folder so that you may use EdGCM’s analysis and visualization programs to post-process and view the output.

The 4th Dimension Database

4th Dimension® is the tie that binds the EdGCM 4D graphical user interface together with the databases generated by simulations. A powerful relational database that runs on both Mac and Windows platforms, 4th Dimension® organizes the huge quantity of output generated so that users can focus upon analyzing the results of their simulations rather than having to search for the information of interest.

The GISS GCM Model II

The heart of EdGCM is the GISS GCM Model II (described in detail in Hansen et al. [1983]), a three-dimensional model which solves numerically the physical conservation equations for energy, mass, momentum and moisture, as well as the equation of state. GISS Model II has a horizontal resolution of 8̊ latitude by 10̊ longitude, nine layers in the atmosphere extending to 10 mb, and two ground hydrology layers. The model accounts for both seasonal and diurnal solar cycles in its temperature calculations. Cloud particles, aerosols, and radiatively important gases (e.g., carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxides) are explicitly incorporated into the radiation scheme. Large- scale and convective cloud cover are predicted, and precipitation is generated whenever supersaturated conditions occur. Snow depth is based on a balance between snowfall, melting and sublimation. Sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are calculated using model-derived surface energy fluxes and specified ocean heat convergences. The ocean heat convergences vary both seasonally and regionally, but are otherwise fixed. This is the primary mixed-layer ocean model developed for use with the GISS GCM (described in detail in Russell et al. [1985] and in appendix A of Hansen et al. [1988]).

Certain boundary conditions necessary for simulations (e.g., levels of various atmospheric gases, solar luminosity) can easily be adjusted for customized simulations. Other boundary conditions, generally those that are geography- dependent (e.g., alternate land mass distributions for paleoclimate simulations; topography; vegetation) are not customizable for the purposes of most EdGCM users. Development of geography-dependent boundary conditions is a highly labor-intensive task, so new alternatives are not likely to be released in the short term. However, if EdGCM users express a strong interest in a particular paleoclimate or future climate scenario that requires a set of alternative boundary conditions, we will make an effort to incorporate that scenario in a future release.

Visualization Programs

EVA (EdGCM Visualization Application) is a mapping tool that allows users to plot latitude-longitude and vertical gridded data contained within datasets in the popular netCDF format (generated in this case by EdGCM in the course of data processing). The user may select from a large menu of global map projections and slice specific latitude-longitude arrays from larger multidimensional arrays, which might also have dimensions in altitude or time. EVA was written using the powerful IDL language for scientific visualizaton, and REALBasic. It will run in both Mac (OS X 10.3.2 and higher) and Windows (98, 2000 and XP) environments.

SuSpect is a Mac-only data viewer designed for searching and exploring large text-formatted data sets. It was specifically designed for viewing the standard climate diagnostic tables generated by the GISS GCM and includes the ability to interpret IBM line printer control characters (e.g., page feeds, overstrikes, etc.). It gives the user an efficient means of comparing data tables that reside within one text file, but its real power lies in its capabilities for comparing multiple data files.

Additional Utilities

Panoply is another mapping tool that allows users to plot latitude-longitude and vertical gridded data contained within datasets in netCDF format. Since Panoply is as Java application, it will run in both Mac and Windows environments. Panoply is best used for large datasets, or with generic netCDF files created by programs other than EdGCM.

Panoply is now being developed separately from the EdGCM Project. For additional information and updates, please go to http://www.giss.nasa.gov/tools/panoply/

Several additional Mac-only utilities have also been included within the EdGCM suite. The function of these utilties is largely transparent to the user, although some may find the features of MapProjector and Colorbar Tender useful even beyond the needs of EdGCM data visualization.

MapProjector converts 2-D map images into 3-D global views. MapProjector creates three publication-quality projections: Mollweide, stereographic, and orthographic. It also supports vector overlays and high quality PostScript printing.

Colorbar Tender allows the user to create and edit scientific color tables similar to those used on The Weather ChannelTM. Colorbar Tender supports the color table formats used by many popular programs including: PAL, HDF, and AppleWorks Palette. AppleWorks®, IDL®, Transform, NOeSYS®, and Panoply have been tested with color tables created in Colorbar Tender.

FileInfo changes the creator (owner) of a file, the type file, and attributes of files or folders (e.g., whether the file extension is displayed, a file or folder is locked).