tracerinfo.dat not corrrectly read in GEOS-Chem v12.2.0

[tsherwen]

Hello Daniel,

When using xpbch to read (successfully completed) GEOS-Chem output from version v12.2.0, I see the following message:

/work/home/ts551/.conda/envs/py_3_7_master/lib/python3.7/site-packages/xbpch/util/diaginfo.py:104: UserWarning: At least one row in /work/home/ts551/GC/rundirs/geosfp_4x5_tropchem.v12.2.0.test_JNIT.3600s.J025/tracerinfo.dat wasn't decoded correctly; we strongly recommend you manually check that file to see that all tracers are properly recorded.

This is due to a change in the formatting of tracerinfo.dat between v12.1.1 and v12.2.0 (see below). Is it possible to allow for xpbch to read both formats?

---- change in tracerinfo.dat

in v12.1.1

#==============================================================================
# tracerinfo.dat: Created by GEOS-CHEM at 2019/01/15 10:31
#
# ****** CUSTOMIZED FOR NOx-Ox-Hydrocarbon-Aerosol SIMULATION *****
#
# This file contains name weight and index information about GEOS-CHEM
# tracers.  It is read by routine "ctm_tracerinfo.pro" of the GAMAP package.
#
# File Format:
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
# NAME     (A8   )  Tracer name (up to 8 chars)
#  --      (1X   )  1-character spacer
# FULLNAME (A30  )  Full tracer name (up to 30 chars)
# MOLWT    (E10.0)  Molecular weight (kg/mole)
# C        (I3   )  For HC's: # moles C/moles tracer; otherwise set=1
# TRACER   (I9   )  Tracer number (up to 9 digits)
# SCALE    (E10.3)  Standard scale factor to convert to unit given below
#  --      (1X   )  1-character spacer
# UNIT     (A40  )  Unit string
#
#==============================================================================
# GEOS-CHEM tracers [ppbv]
#==============================================================================
NO       NO tracer                      3.000E-02  1        1 1.000E+09 ppbv
O3       O3 tracer                      4.800E-02  1        2 1.000E+09 ppbv
PAN      PAN tracer                     1.210E-01  1        3 1.000E+09 ppbv
CO       CO tracer                      2.800E-02  1        4 1.000E+09 ppbv
...
AVGW     Mixing ratio of H2O vapor      0.000E+00  1    24003 1.000E+00 v/v
AIRNUMDE Dry air number density         0.000E+00  1    24004 1.000E+00 molec air/cm3
T        Temperature                    0.000E+00  1    24005 1.000E+00 K
PMID     Pressure at average pressure l 0.000E+00  1    24006 1.000E+00 hPa
PEDGE    Pressure at grid box lower edg 0.000E+00  1    24007 1.000E+00 hPa
RH       Relative humidity              0.000E+00  1    24008 1.000E+00 %
#==============================================================================
# ND69 diagnostic quantities
#==============================================================================
DXYP     Grid box surface area          0.000E+00  1    25001 1.000E+00 m2

 

in v12.2.0

#==============================================================================
# tracerinfo.dat: Created by GEOS-CHEM at 2019/02/20 11:28
#
# ****** CUSTOMIZED FOR NOx-Ox-Hydrocarbon-Aerosol SIMULATION *****
#
# This file contains name weight and index information about GEOS-CHEM
# tracers.  It is read by routine "ctm_tracerinfo.pro" of the GAMAP package.
#
# File Format:
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
# NAME     (A31  )  Tracer name (up to 31 chars)
#  --      (1X   )  1-character spacer
# FULLNAME (A30  )  Full tracer name (up to 30 chars)
# MOLWT    (E10.0)  Molecular weight (kg/mole)
# C        (I3   )  For HC's: # moles C/moles tracer; otherwise set=1
# TRACER   (I9   )  Tracer number (up to 9 digits)
# SCALE    (E10.3)  Standard scale factor to convert to unit given below
#  --      (1X   )  1-character spacer
# UNIT     (A40  )  Unit string
#
#==============================================================================
# GEOS-CHEM tracers [ppbv]
#==============================================================================
NO                              NO tracer                      3.000E-02  1        1 1.000E+09 ppbv
O3                              O3 tracer                      4.800E-02  1        2 1.000E+09 ppbv
PAN                             PAN tracer                     1.210E-01  1        3 1.000E+09 ppbv
CO                              CO tracer                      2.800E-02  1        4 1.000E+09 ppbv
ALK4                            ALK4 tracer                    1.200E-02  4        5 1.000E+09 ppbC
...
AVGW                            Mixing ratio of H2O vapor      0.000E+00  1    24003 1.000E+00 v/v
AIRNUMDEN                       Dry air number density         0.000E+00  1    24004 1.000E+00 molec air/cm3
T                               Temperature                    0.000E+00  1    24005 1.000E+00 K
PMID                            Pressure at average pressure l 0.000E+00  1    24006 1.000E+00 hPa
PEDGE                           Pressure at grid box lower edg 0.000E+00  1    24007 1.000E+00 hPa
RH                              Relative humidity              0.000E+00  1    24008 1.000E+00 %
#==============================================================================
# ND69 diagnostic quantities
#==============================================================================
DXYP                            Grid box surface area          0.000E+00  1    25001 1.000E+00 m2

[darothen]

Hi @tsherwen, I opened a PR at #21 to try to deal with this, but it's a little bit complicated. The best way to handle this would be to auto-infer the column widths in tracerinfo.dat so we don't have to hard-code details based on the version of the model being run, since that data isn't immediately available from other metadata. Would happily accept tweaks to PR #21 if you have any good working solutions!