Tropical Storms Detection User Guide

Table of Contents
* Scientific Overview
* Getting Started
* Referenced Works
* Contacts

Scientific Overview
This code was designed to detect and track tropical cyclones in global climate models (GCMs) using data that is typically archived by GCMs. The code is based on an algorithm developed by Frederic Vitart when he was a graduate student at GFDL. It has since been modified by Joe Sirutis, Ming Zhao, Kyle Olivo, and Keren Rosado.

Getting Started
Environment Configuration
The following packages were used at GFDL to compile and run these tools. Newer versions of these packages will likely work, but remain untested.

tcsh (6.14.00)
Intel Compilers (11.1.073)
NetCDF (4.2)
NCO (4.0.3)
MPICH2 (1.2.1p1)

Compilation Instructions
Two Fortran programs need to be compiled.
* Open the tstorms_driver or trajectory_analysis directory.
* If needed, modify library locations in the Makefile.
* Run 'make' to compile the application.
* Repeat the above steps with the other application.

Usage Instructions
To see the available options, just pass the -h flag to the main script.

NAME
   tropical_storms_wsfc

SYNOPSIS
   tropical_storms_wsfc.csh [-W] -b <year> -e <year> -n <experiment> -i <input directory> -o <output directory>

DESCRIPTION
   Creates figures and statistics from atmospheric data.

OPTIONS
   -W    Enables the use of w850 input data instead of wsfc.
   -b    First year to start processing data.
   -e    Last year to stop processing data.
   -n    Experiment name.
   -i    Location of post-processed input files.
   -o    Location for storing the analysis data and figures.
    
The input filenames are expected to be in this format: atmos.1981010100-1981123123.slp.nc.
The script and associated Fortran applications will generate trajectory information which you can then plot separately with the tool of your choosing.

Referenced Works
Knutson, Thomas R., Joseph J Sirutis, Stephen T Garner, Gabriel A Vecchi, and Isaac M Held, 2008: Simulated reduction in Atlantic hurricane frequency under twenty-first-century warming conditions. Nature Geoscience, 1(6), DOI:10.1038/ngeo202
Vitart, F., D. Anderson, and T. N. Stockdale, 2003: Seasonal forecasting of tropical cyclone landfall over Mozambique. J. Climate,16,3932-3945.
Vitart, F., J. L. Anderson, W. F. Stern, 1997: Simulation of Interannual Variability of Tropical Storm Frequency in an Ensemble of GCM Integrations. J. Climate: Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 745-760.
Vitart, F., T. N. Stockdale, 2001: Seasonal forecasting of tropical storms using coupled GCM integrations. MWR,129,2521-2537.
Zhao, Ming, Isaac M Held, Shian-Jiann Lin, and Gabriel A Vecchi, December 2009: Simulations of global hurricane climatology, interannual variability, and response to global warming using a 50km resolution GCM. Journal of Climate, 22(24), DOI:10.1175/2009JCLI3049.1

Contacts
This software is provided under the GPLv2 license (please see the LICENSE file for more details). If you have questions about this package, you may contact GFDL's climate model info mailing list: [email protected]