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Relationship between spectral and grid resolution
IFS is a model of two resolutions: the spectral resolution determining the number of retained waves and the corresponding grid onto which these waves can be transformed. A greater spectral resolution can improve the forecast quality whilst reduced Gaussian grid resolutions can improve the efficiency of the model. However, aliassing of the quadratic (and cubic) terms in the model equations can result from using linear grids, which needs to be compensated for in the model formulation. A cubic grid removes aliassing and the need for additional filters.
Model timestep
The timestep depends on the horizontal resolution and the choice of the grid. ECMWF typically use a long a timestep as possible for efficiency reasons. However, there are times when this may result in some of the semi-Lagrangian trajectories going underground (messages can be seen in the model logfile), though generally this is not a problem.
Recommended maximum timesteps are given in the table below. Shorter timesteps can be used, though note that the model will not produce the exact same result between two forecasts with different timesteps.
Supported spectral and horizontal grid resolutions
The table below summarizes the supported configurations of the IFS and the relationship between spectral truncation, gridpoint resolution and the recommended timestep for optimum performance.
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Spectral truncation | Grid (lats pole to eq) | Grid type | Resolution at equator (npts at eq. / spacing) | Recommended timestep (min) | Application |
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Tco1279 | O1280 | _4 | 5136 / 8km / 0.070o | 7.5 | Operational forecast resolution (43r3) |
Tl1279 | N640 | l_2 | 2560 / 16km / 0.141o | 10 | Operational forecast resolution (40r1) |
Tl1023 | N512 | l_2 | 2048 / 20km / 0.176o | 10 | - |
Tco799 | O800 | _4 | 3216 / 12.5km / 0.112o | 12 | - |
Tl799 | N400 | l_2 | 1600 / 25km / 0.225o | 12 | - |
Tco639 | O640 | _4 | 2576 / 16km / 0.140o | 12 | Operational ensemble resolution (43r3) |
Tl639 | N320 | l_2 | 1280 / 31km / 0.281o | 15 | ERA-5 high resolution |
Tl511 | N256 | l_2 | 1024 / 39km / 0.352o | 15 | - |
Tco399 | O400 | _4 | 1616 / 25km / 0.223o | 15 | - |
Tl399 | N200 | l_2 | 800 / 50km / 0.45o | 20 | Operational ensemble resolution (40r1) |
Tco319 | O320 | _4 | 1296 / 31km / 0.278o | 20- | Seasonal system 5 |
Tl319 | N160 | l_2 | 640 / 63km / 0.563o | 20 | ERA-5 ensemble |
Tco255 | O256 | _4 | 1040 / 39km / 0.346o | 20 | - |
Tl255 | N128 | l_2 | 512 / 78km / 0.703o | 45 | ERA-Interim; Seasonal system 4 |
Tq213 | N160 | _2 | 640 / 63km / 0.563o | 20 | - |
Tco199 | O200 | _4 | 816 / 49km / 0.44o | 20 | - |
Tco159 | O160 | _4 | 656 / 61km / 0.55o | 20 | - |
Tl159 | N80 | l_2 | 320 / 125km / 1.125o | 60 | ERA-40 |
Tq106 | F80 | _2 | 320 / 125km / 1.125o | 60 | - |
Tco95 | O96 | _4 | 400 / 100km / 0.9o | 30 | - |
Tl95 | N48 | l_2 | 192 / 209km / 1.875o | 60 | - |
Tq63 | F48 | _2 | 192 / 209km / 1.875o | 60 | - |
Tq42 | F32 | _full | 128 / 313km / 2.813o | 30 | Development/testing only |
Tq21 | F16 | _full | 64 / 626km / 5.625o | 30 | Development/testing only |
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Note that a linear grid allows a higher spectral truncation for the same number of gridpoints as a quadratic or cubic grid. Linear and quadratic in this sense means enough gridpoints are available to compute the linear and quadratic terms in the equations respectively. Likewise a cubic grid has more gridpoints per spectral wavenumber and provides more gridpoints to describe the highest wavenumbers.
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this table is taken from the draft OpenIFS 40r1 paper & supplemented with 43r3 info for the cubic grids. % this should match the resolutions of the climate data provided by OpenIFS. % see bin/gaussgr for further definitions of the grids. % for resolution information, look at prepIFS defaults in: % ~rdx/prepIFS.defaults/current/40r1/setup_fc/resolution % gives (ignoring some resolutions, only including those for which we have climate files): The formula for the number of longitude lines at latitude=i = 4*i + 16 (starting with i=1 nearest the pole) is definitely correct. So the latitude nearest the equator for the O1280 grid has 4*1280 + 16 = 5136 longitude points. In fact, you can check this in the NAMGRI namelist (read from, e.g. /home/rd/rdx/data/ifs/rtable_41279). Here you will see that line nearest the pole has 20 points and those nearest the equator have 5136 points My conclusion is, therefore, that namfpd has the wrong number for the octahedral grids. Of course, I don't know what namfpd@NLON refers to in fullpos. It could be that this is the number of longituide points on the full Gaussian grid (which is always 4*N) ? Or perhaps it's just not been updated and still refers to the old-style reduced grids which did have 5120 points at the latitudes nearest the equator. I hope that helps. |
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