Getting Started

Firn Model Formats

SMB and firn model files are available from different modeling groups in different formats. FirnCorr has drivers for GEMB, GSFC-fdm, MAR and RACMO model formats, which are presently usually netCDF4 files. FirnCorr uses pint to handle parsing the units of the model data and convert them into different sets of units.

  • meters (\(m\))

  • centimeters water equivalent (\(cm\,w.e.\))

  • centimeters ice equivalent (\(cm\,i.e.\))

  • kilograms per square meter (\(kg/m^2\), equivalent to \(mm\,w.e.\))

Data Access

Some model outputs can be programmatically downloaded using the fetching routines in FirnCorr.datasets.

Other firn models may require manual downloading due to licensing agreements or limitations on programmatic access. See the model links in Directories for the references to specific firn models.

Model Database

FirnCorr stores the metadata for some models within a JSON database. FirnCorr currently supports several solutions from the following models:

  • GEMB Gardner et al. [6]

  • GSFC-fdm Medley et al. [8]

  • MAR: Fettweis et al. [4], Tedesco and Fettweis [14]

  • RACMO-ascii Ettema et al. [3]

  • RACMO-netcdf Noël et al. [11], van Wessem et al. [16]

  • RACMO-downscaled Noël et al. [10]

import FirnCorr

# create a FirnCorr model object from database
m = FirnCorr.io.model(verify=False).from_database("GSFC-fdm-v1.2.1")
m
FirnCorr.io.model
    name: GSFC-fdm-v1.2.1

Directories

FirnCorr uses a tree structure for storing and accessing the model outputs. This structure was chosen based on the different formats of each model. The base of the tree structure (in the table below as <model_path>) can be the default FirnCorr cache directory or a user-specified (external) directory. Several models can be programmatically downloaded from their providers to their parameterized directories using the fetching routines in FirnCorr.datasets.

Presently, the following models and their directories are parameterized within FirnCorr:

Table 1: Antarctic Model Directories

Model

Directory

GEMB-v1

<model_path>/GEMB/v1

GEMB-v1.1

<model_path>/GEMB/v1.1

GEMB-v1.2

<model_path>/GEMB/v1.2

GEMB-v1.3

<model_path>/GEMB/v1.3

GEMB-v1.3-5day

<model_path>/GEMB/v1.3

GEMB-v1.4

<model_path>/GEMB/v1.4

GEMB-v1.4-5day

<model_path>/GEMB/v1.4

GEMB-v1.5

<model_path>/GEMB/v1.5

GEMB-v1.5-5day

<model_path>/GEMB/v1.5

GSFC-fdm-v0

<model_path>/GSFC-fdm/v0

GSFC-fdm-v1

<model_path>/GSFC-fdm/v1

GSFC-fdm-v1.1

<model_path>/GSFC-fdm/v1.1

GSFC-fdm-v1.2.1

<model_path>/GSFC-fdm/v1.2.1

MARv3.12

<model_path>/MAR/MARv3.12/Antarctica

MARv3.14

<model_path>/MAR/MARv3.14/Antarctica

Table 2: Greenland Model Directories

Model

Directory

GEMB-v1

<model_path>/GEMB/v1

GEMB-v1.1

<model_path>/GEMB/v1.1

GEMB-v1.2

<model_path>/GEMB/v1.2

GEMB-v1.3

<model_path>/GEMB/v1.3

GEMB-v1.3-5day

<model_path>/GEMB/v1.3

GEMB-v1.4

<model_path>/GEMB/v1.4

GEMB-v1.4-5day

<model_path>/GEMB/v1.4

GEMB-v1.5

<model_path>/GEMB/v1.5

GEMB-v1.5-5day

<model_path>/GEMB/v1.5

GSFC-fdm-v0

<model_path>/GSFC-fdm/v0

GSFC-fdm-v1

<model_path>/GSFC-fdm/v1

GSFC-fdm-v1.0

<model_path>/GSFC-fdm/v1.0

GSFC-fdm-v1.1

<model_path>/GSFC-fdm/v1.1

GSFC-fdm-v1.2.1

<model_path>/GSFC-fdm/v1.2.1

MARv3.11-ERA

<model_path>/MAR/MARv3.11/Greenland/ERA_1958-2019-15km/daily_15km

MARv3.11-NCEP

<model_path>/MAR/MARv3.11/Greenland/NCEP1_1948-2020_20km/daily_20km

MARv3.11.2-ERA-10km

<model_path>/MAR/MARv3.11.2/Greenland/10km_ERA5

MARv3.11.2-ERA-15km

<model_path>/MAR/MARv3.11.2/Greenland/15km_ERA5

MARv3.11.2-ERA-20km

<model_path>/MAR/MARv3.11.2/Greenland/20km_ERA5

MARv3.11.2-ERA-6km

<model_path>/MAR/MARv3.11.2/Greenland/6km_ERA5

MARv3.11.2-ERA-7.5km

<model_path>/MAR/MARv3.11.2/Greenland/7.5km_ERA5

MARv3.11.2-NCEP-20km

<model_path>/MAR/MARv3.11.2/Greenland/20km_NCEP1

MARv3.11.5-ERA-10km

<model_path>/MAR/MARv3.11.5/Greenland/ERA5_1950-2020-10km/daily_10km

MARv3.11.5-ERA-15km

<model_path>/MAR/MARv3.11.5/Greenland/15km_ERA5

MARv3.11.5-ERA-20km

<model_path>/MAR/MARv3.11.5/Greenland/20km_ERA5

MARv3.11.5-ERA-6km

<model_path>/MAR/MARv3.11.5/Greenland/ERA5_1950-2021-6km

MARv3.14-ERA-10km

<model_path>/MAR/MARv3.14/Greenland/ERA5-10km-daily

MARv3.14-ERA-1km

<model_path>/MAR/MARv3.14/Greenland/ERA5-1km-monthly

MARv3.9-ERA

<model_path>/MAR/MARv3.9/Greenland/ERA_1958-2018_10km/daily_10km