Frequently Asked Questions

TERRAIN

1. My Terrain job failed, what went wrong?

When terrain program fails, the first thing to check is to see if this line is included in your .cshrc file on NCAR's Cray:

     setenv NCARG_ROOT /usr/local

Errors that may be associated with missing this `setenv' includes: ``ERROR 1 IN OPENMP" or ``STOP executed at line 129 in Fortran routine `SETER' ".

Terrain and many of MM5 modeling system programs require this being set in the .cshrc file.

2. Where can I find input data to Terrain?

Version 3 Terrain input data are available via NCAR's anonymous ftp. All data may be used on both Cray and workstations.

3. How much resource does it cost to run the TERRAIN programs?

It doesn't usually take much resource to run the Terrain program. But if you choose to use the 30-second data option, it will take a lot of memory. Approximately, it will take 1 Gb of memory to create a domain that covers a 10 deg by 10 deg area on 32-bit workstation, and nearly 240 Mw on 64-bit Cray.

4. Can I run Terrain program without NCAR Graphics?

Yes, you can now. Version 3 and the latest V2 terrain program can be run without NCAR Graphics. Please see README file inside the tar file.

5. What is required to compile Terrain program with NCAR Graphics on a Linux system?

Loading g77-compiled NCAR Graphics on a Linux machine with pgf77/90-compiler TERRAIN code requires a library called libf2c.a. Source code for f2c may be found on the net. If you are running RedHat 6, you can download one from our ftp site too. Please click here for information.

6. I just upgraded to version 3.5 (or higher), and now my "DOMINAT VEGECAT/NEW LANDUSE TYPE" plot  looks very strange

There was a format change to the data files in version 3.5. If you are getting a landuse plot with diagonal stripes, rather than the landuse plots you are use to, you are more than likely using version 3.4 data to run version 3.5 (or higher) code.
One of the easiest ways to check this, is to compare your data file sizes (in TERRAIN/Data), with the new data file sizes.
If any of your data file sizes are different, remove all the data files from TERRAIN/Data, and download new data from ftp://ftp.ucar.edu/mesouser/MM5V3/TERRAIN_DATA

You can still run TERRAIN version 3.4, but if you do, make use of the data in  ftp://ftp.ucar.ed u/mesouser/MM5V3/DATA

7. When using 30 second Terrain Input data, the code stops with:
   ERROR OCCURRED ON UNIT: 31

This is most often associated with a problem with one of the 30 sec input data files been corrupted. This may happen if (1) there was a pipe break during the transfer of the data, or (2) if you ftp-ed the data manually without specifing binary transfer mode.

Correct the problem as follows:

1. Delete all the files in the TERRAIN/Data30s/ directory

2. Delete all the 30sec data files in the TERRAIN/Data/ directory, including the two new_30sec* files

3. ftp to ftp://ftp.ucar.edu/mesouser/MM5V3/TERRAIN_DATA/, and download 30sec data manually (remember to transfer files with binary mode)

4. go to: http://edcdaac.usgs.gov/gtopo30/gtopo30.html

5. Click on the tile(s) you want to download (example, northwestern USA tile). This will take you to a page (this example page W140N90), where you can download the 30sec terrestrial data. Click on the download link (this example on the W140N90 link) to download tar file.

6. Place downloaded tar files in TERRAIN/Data30s/ directory

7. You do not need to unzip or untar them

8. In terrain.deck, set ftpdata to true and Where30sTer to ftp (this will not download data if it finds it in the Data/ and Data30s/ directories)

9. Run terrain.deck