The behavior of Series-Analysis is controlled by the contents of the configuration file passed to it on the command line. The default Series-Analysis configuration file may be found in the $MET_BASE/config/SeriesAnalysisConfig_default file. Prior to modifying the configuration file, users are advised to make a copy of the default:
The configurable items for Series-Analysis are used to specify how the verification is to be performed. The configurable items include specifications for the following:
- The verification domain.
- The forecast fields to be verified at the specified vertical level or accumulation interval.
- The threshold values to be applied.
- The area over which to limit the computation of statistics - as predefined grids or configurable lat/lon polylines.
- The confidence interval methods to be used.
- The smoothing methods to be applied.
- The types of statistics to be computed.
You may find a complete description of the configurable items in the MET Users Guide or in the $MET_BASE/config/README file. Please take some time to review them.
For this tutorial, we'll run Series-Analysis to verify a time series of 3-hour accumulated precipitation. We'll use GRIB1 for the forecast files and NetCDF for the observation files.
Open up the $MET_TUTORIAL_DATA/config/SeriesAnalysisConfig_tutorial file for editing with your preferred text editor and edit it as follows:
- Set
cat_thresh = [ >0.0, >=5.0 ]; - Change obs = fcst; to
obs = {
field = [
{
name = "APCP_03";
level = [ "A3" ];
}
];
}; - In the mask dictionary, set grid = "G212";
To limit the computation of statistics to the NCEP Grid 212 domain. - In the output_stats dictionary, set
fho = [ "F_RATE", "O_RATE" ];
ctc = [ "FY_OY", "FN_ON" ];
cts = [ "CSI", "GSS" ];
mctc = [];
mcts = [];
cnt = [ "RMSE" ];
sl1l2 = [];
sal1l2 = [];
pct = [];
pstd = [];
pjc = [];
prc = [];To indicate that the forecast rate (FHO: F_RATE), observation rate (FHO: O_RATE), number of forecast yes and observation yes (CTC: FY_OY), number of forecast no and observation no (CTC: FN_ON), critical success index (CTS: CSI), and the Gilbert Skill Score (CTS: GSS) should be output for each threshold, along with the root mean squared error (CNT: RMSE).
Save and close this file.
The configurable block_size specifies the number of grid points to be processed concurrently. The total number of data points is determined by the number of grid points (Nx * Ny) and the number of series entries. Setting block_size too high will consume too much memory and make the tool run slowly. Setting it too low will require many passes through the data and make the tool run slowly. Its default value of 1024 is pretty low for most newer machines.
Consider increasing the default block_size to speed up the Series-Analysis tool
