# Convert CAM-Chem output for CMAQ ICON and BCON **URL:** \ **Category:** CMAQ-PREP\ **Created:** [June 10, 2020, 12:38am UTC](https://forum.cmascenter.org/t/convert-cam-chem-output-for-cmaq-icon-and-bcon/1564 "2020-06-10T00:38:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@Ryan](https://forum.cmascenter.org/u/Ryan)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 12:38am UTC](https://forum.cmascenter.org/t/convert-cam-chem-output-for-cmaq-icon-and-bcon/1564/1 "2020-06-10T00:38:31Z")
Hi all, I wonder whether there is any tool available to convert the CAM-Chem model output to CMAQ ICON and BCON. I know that the default IC and BC are generated from the hemispheric simulation of CMAQ. As far as I know, there is a tool named **mozart2camx-26feb19.tgz** to convert the Mozart output to CMAQ/CAMx. However, the Mozart output are no longer available for the year 2020. Does anyone have any comments or suggestions? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![cjcoats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ac8455/32.png) [@cjcoats](https://forum.cmascenter.org/u/cjcoats)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 10:51am UTC](https://forum.cmascenter.org/t/convert-cam-chem-output-for-cmaq-icon-and-bcon/1564/2 "2020-06-10T10:51:53Z")
It’s not the whole task, but a start is M3Tools program _camx2m3_: see [https://cjcoats.github.io/ioapi/CAMXTOM3.html](https://cjcoats.github.io/ioapi/CAMXTOM3.html). You may then need to do grid-to-grid conversion from the CAMX grid to the CMAQ grid, possibly using _mtxcple_. You will need to do vertical-coordinate fixup (sorry, don’t have anything “canned” for that) and possibly species-conversion. ---
**Author:** ![hogrefe.christian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@hogrefe.christian](https://forum.cmascenter.org/u/hogrefe.christian)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 9:11pm UTC](https://forum.cmascenter.org/t/convert-cam-chem-output-for-cmaq-icon-and-bcon/1564/3 "2020-06-10T21:11:47Z")
Hi Ryan, I am not aware of any existing tools to generate CMAQ IC and BC from CAM-Chem outputs, but that of course doesn’t mean that they don’t exist. As for using M3Tools created for CAMx files such as camx2m3, this may not solve your problem unless CAM-Chem uses the same output format as CAMx, but you still might find looking at that code helpful in terms of developing your own conversion code (see next paragraph). As general guidance, what you would probably want to do is develop code that converts your CAM-Chem outputs to I/O API netcdf files, making sure the file and grid definitions conform with I/O API standards. To do this, you’d write Fortran code that links in the I/O API and netcdf libraries. During that step, you would not have to worry about horizontal or vertical mapping, and you may also want to leave the species remapping for later. Once you have an I/O API netcdf file with CAM-Chem data, you could then run [`ICON`](https://github.com/USEPA/CMAQ/tree/master/PREP/icon) and [`BCON`](https://github.com/USEPA/CMAQ/tree/master/PREP/bcon) in `regrid` mode to generate IC and BC for your domain since these tools will handle the required horizontal and vertical mapping. If you require species mapping, you can use tools like `combine` to accomplish that task, either before or after running `ICON` and `BCON`. ---
**Author:** ![Shivang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@Shivang](https://forum.cmascenter.org/u/Shivang)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2020, 6:58am UTC](https://forum.cmascenter.org/t/convert-cam-chem-output-for-cmaq-icon-and-bcon/1564/4 "2020-06-28T06:58:42Z")
Dear Ryan, After downloading the CAM-Chem boundary from “[https://www.acom.ucar.edu/cam-chem/cam-chem.shtml](https://www.acom.ucar.edu/cam-chem/cam-chem.shtml)” or WACCM from “[https://www.acom.ucar.edu/waccm/download.shtml](https://www.acom.ucar.edu/waccm/download.shtml)” you can use these to generate boundary conditions for CMAQ, using the program that you mentioned, **mozart2camx-26feb19.tgz**. The program works perfectly and is produces better results than MOZART (as it was over-predicting some of the species). You need you GRIDDESC and other MCIP output for layering and you are done. P.S. Please adjust the amount and name of different PM species in the **src** folder of **mozart2camx-26feb19.tgz** , as MOZART and CAMCHEM/WACCM have changed the nomenclature completely. ---
**Author:** ![Ryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@Ryan](https://forum.cmascenter.org/u/Ryan)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2020, 7:19am UTC](https://forum.cmascenter.org/t/convert-cam-chem-output-for-cmaq-icon-and-bcon/1564/5 "2020-06-28T07:19:15Z")
Hi Shivang Agarwal， Thanks a lot for pointing it out. I will check it out and have a try. With regards, Ryan