WRF Multi-Operating System Install Toolkit (WRF-MOSIT) Publication Acceptance ** WRF-CMAQ included now **

WRF-CMAQ

Hello and Good Day to the Weather Research Forecasting Modeling Community, Atmospheric Science Community, Meteorologists, Researchers & Meteorological Organization Leaders:

My name is Will Hatheway and I am a meteorologist in Texas, USA. In 2021, while I was sick with the COVID-19 virus for forty-five days with nothing but a computer to keep me occupied, I began experimenting with the installation of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model to keep me busy while isolating myself from everyone. During my trial and error of installing WRF, I became aware of how difficult it could be to install. Therefore, I decided 2 years ago to create an all-in-one software package that would install the WRF model and all the required libraries, packages, software, and tools needed for anyone to use it.

Throughout this two-year journey, there have been many ups and downs in developing this code for the global scientific community. As several of you may know, I constantly update the code with new features and supported operating systems. This is so that more users around the globe can utilize WRF for forecasting or research purposes.

Today I have a couple of big announcements regarding the WRF install code that I’d like to share with you.

First, the WRF install code has been renamed the WRF Multi-Operating System Install Toolkit (WRF-MOSIT). This name change is due to some confusion with the National Center for Atmospheric Research’s (NCAR) script with a similar name and my self-install toolkit. Just to be clear, I am not associated with any government organization or university here in the United States. I am an independent researcher and meteorologist trying to help the global atmospheric science community by making the WRF easier to install and use.

Second, the WRF-MOSIT has been published in the Springer academic journal Earth Science Informatics (Impact Factor: 3.0) and is available on

Researchgate
(https://www.researchgate.net/publication/375548767_WRF-MOSIT_a_modular_and_cross-platform_tool_for_configuring_and_installing_the_WRF_model )

and the journal website

(WRF-MOSIT: a modular and cross-platform tool for configuring and installing the WRF model - Earth Science Informatics).

Please note that the WRF-MOSIT must be cited and is required by Springer.

The citation is:

Hatheway, W., Snoun, H., ur Rehman, H. et al. WRF-MOSIT: a modular and cross-platform tool for configuring and installing the WRF model. Earth Sci Inform (2023).

Third, WRF-MOSIT now includes support for ALL Fedora Kernel-based Linux Distributions on 64-bit systems. With this addition to the WRF-MOSIT, the WRF model can now be installed on High-Performance Computers, Cloud Servers, Desktops, and Laptops. The supported kernels include, but are not limited to:
Red Hat Linux Enterprise
CentOS
AlmaLinux
Rocky Linux
Fedora Linux

With the addition of the Fedora Kernel, the WRF-MOSIT can now be installed on:
Debian Linux Kernels (Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Q4OS, etc.)
Fedora Linux Kernels (Red Hat Linux Enterprise, CentOS, Fedora, Rocky Linux, etc.)
MacOS
Windows Sub-System Linux (Debian Linux Kernels and Fedora Linux Kernels)

The WRF-MOSIT is now a complete installation package that can be utilized on ANY system anywhere in the world.

At the time of writing this announcement, the WRF-MOSIT and its predecessors have been cloned from the GitHub repository over 4000 times. However, it has likely been downloaded directly from GitHub through direct downloads. Due to the restrictions on GitHub data, I cannot verify how many total downloads (Clones + Direct Downloads) there have been, but it is likely over 4500 unique user downloads.

Also, the WRF-MOSIT and its predecessors have been downloaded in 128 countries (see Image 1, highlighted in blue) around the globe. There are 200 countries in the world, so users in over 64% of the globe have downloaded the WRF-MOSIT or its predecessors. This is a huge achievement for the global atmospheric community. The WRF is a powerful tool for research and forecasting and with more users successfully able to install the model, advances in the scientific field will follow shortly.

WRF Multi-Operating System Install Toolkit:
This is a BASH script that provides options to install the following Weather Research & Forecasting Model (WRF) packages in 64-bit systems:
Weather Research & Forecasting Model (WRF)
Weather Research & Forecasting Model Chemistry (WRF-CHEM)
Weather Research & Forecasting Model Hydro Standalone (WRF-Hydro)
Weather Research & Forecasting Model Hydro Coupled w/ WRF (WRF-Hydro Coupled)
Hurricane Weather Research & Forecasting Model (HWRF)
Weather Research and Forecasting Model CMAQ (WRF-CMAQ)
Weather Research and Forecasting Model Wildland Fire (WRF-SFIRE)

System Requirements
64-bit system
Linux Fedora Distros (Red Hat Linux Enterprise, Fedora Linux, CentOS, etc.)
Linux Debian Distro (Ubuntu, Linux Mint, etc.)
Windows Subsystem for Linux (Debian Distributions, Fedora Distributions)
MacOS
350 Gigabyte (GB) of storage space
Libraries Installed (Latest libraries as of 03/01/2023)
Libraries are manually installed in sub-folders utilizing either Intel or GNU Compilers.

GNU Fortran Compilers Intel Fortran Compilers
zlib (1.2.13) zlib (1.2.13)
MPICH (4.1.2) libpng (1.6.39)
libpng (1.6.39) JasPer (1.900.1)
JasPer (1.900.1) HDF5 (1.14.2)
HDF5 (1.14.2) PHDF5 (1.14.2)
PHDF5 (1.14.2) Parallel-NetCDF (1.12.3)
Parallel-NetCDF (1.12.3) NetCDF-C (4.9.2)
NetCDF-C (4.9.2) NetCDF-Fortran (4.6.1)
NetCDF-Fortran (4.6.1) Miniconda
Miniconda Intel oneAPI Basekit
Intel oneAPI HPCKIT
Intel oneAPI AIKIT

Software Packages
WRF WRF-CHEM WRF-Hydro Standalone WRF-Hydro Coupled Hurricane WRF WRF-CMAQ WRF-SFIRE

WRF v4.5 WRF Chem w/KPP 4.5 WRF-Hydro v5.2
WRF v4.5 HWRF Utilities v4.0a
WRF v4.5 WRF-SFIRE v2
WPS v4.5
WPS v4.5
WPS v4.5
POMTC v4.0a
CMAQ v5.4 WPS v4.2
WRF PLUS v4.5
WRFDA Chem 3DVAR
WRF-Hydro v5.2
NCEP Coupler v4.0a
WPS v4.5
WRFDA 4DVAR v4.5
GFDL Vortex Tracker v4.0a
GSI v4.0a
UPP v4.0a
WRF v4.3.3
WPS v4.3.1

Pre/Post Processing Packages Installed
Development Testbed Center (DTC) Model Evaluation Tools (MET) v11.1.0
Development Testbed Center (DTC) Enhanced Model Evaluation Tools (METplus) v5.1.0
Development Testbed Center (DTC) Unified Post Processor (UPP) v4.1
ARWPost v3
WRF-Python (Conda installed)
OpenGrADS
GrADS
NCAR Command Language (Conda installed)
Prep-Chem-SRC v1.5
WRF CHEM Tools
Mozbc
Megan Bio Emiss
Megan Bio Data
Wes Coldens
ANTHRO EMIS
EDGAR HTAP
EPA ANTHO EMIS
UBC
Aircraft
FINN
WRF-GIS-Preprocessor (Conda installed)
Climate Data Operators (Conda installed)
Quantum Geographic Information System – QGIS (Conda installed)

*** Tested on Ubuntu 20.04.5 LTS, Ubuntu 22.04.1 LTS, MacOS Ventura, Windows Subsystem Linux Ubuntu, Rocky Linux 9, CentOS 7, Red Hat Linux Enterprise 7***

Special thanks to:
University of Manchester’s Doug L
The University of Tunis El Manar’s Hosni S.
GSL’s Jordan S.
University of Luxembourg’s Haseeb R.
University of Nairobi’s Anthony M.±
NCAR’s Mary B., Christine W., & Carl D.
DTC’s Julie P., Tara J., George M., & John H.
UCAR’s Katelyn F., Jim B., Jordan P., Kevin M.
Youtube’s meteoadriatic
GitHub user jamal919

As always, I write these scripts to help the greater atmospheric community. If I can help the advancement of the global atmospheric community through this small effort then I will be pleased.

I ask that you please share these scripts among your friends, colleagues, any email lists you manage, or newsletters. The document is available, in multiple languages, at the top of this announcement letter.

If you have used the WRF-MOSIT or any of its predecessors please follow me on GitHub and LinkedIn as I will periodically update the WRF-MOSIT with new features and library updates.

Finally, I am always looking for more suggestions to make the WRF-MOSIT better. If you have any ideas about new features, software packages, or tools to add to the toolkit please message me and let me know.

Regards,
Will Hatheway

1 Like