METplus Practical Session Guide (July 2019) | Session 3: Ensemble and PQPF > Use Case: PQPF

METplus Use Case: QPF Probabilistic

The QPF Probabilistic use case utilizes the MET Pcp-Combine, Regrid-Data-Plane, and Grid-Stat tools.

Optional: Refer to the MET Users Guide for a description of the MET tools used in this use case. 
Optional: Refer to the A-Z Config Glossary section of the METplus Users Guide for a reference to METplus variables used in this use case.

Setup

Create Custom Configuration File

Define a unique directory under output that you will use for this use case. Create a configuration file to override OUTPUT_BASE to that directory.

vi ${METPLUS_PARM_BASE}/user_config/qpf-prob.output.conf

Set OUTPUT_BASE to contain a subdirectory specific to the QPF Probabilistic use case. Make sure to put it under the [dir] section.

[dir]
OUTPUT_BASE = {ENV[METPLUS_TUTORIAL_DIR]}/output/qpf-prob

Using this custom configuration file and the QPF use case configuration files that are distributed with METplus, you should be able to run the use case using the sample input data set without any other changes.

Review Use Case Configuration File: phpt-vs-s4grib.conf

Open the file and look at all of the configuration variables that are defined.

less ${METPLUS_PARM_BASE}/use_cases/qpf/examples/phpt-vs-s4grib.conf

Note that variables in phpt-vs-s4grib.conf reference other config variables that have been defined in configuration files. For example:

OBS_PCP_COMBINE_INPUT_DIR = {INPUT_BASE}/qpf/uswrp/StageIV

This references INPUT_BASE which is set in the METplus data configuration file (metplus_config/metplus_data.conf). METplus config variables can reference other config variables even if they are defined in a config file that is read afterwards.

Run METplus

Run the following command:

master_metplus.py -c use_cases/qpf/examples/phpt-vs-s4grib.conf -c user_config/qpf-prob.output.conf

METplus is finished running when control returns to your terminal console and you see the following text:

INFO: METplus has successfully finished running.

Review the Output Files

You should have output files in the following directories:

ls ${METPLUS_TUTORIAL_DIR}/output/qpf-prob/uswrp/met_out/PHPT/201609041200/grid_stat
  • grid_stat_PROB_PHPT_APCP_vs_STAGE4_GRIB_APCP_A06_060000L_20160904_180000V_eclv.txt
  • grid_stat_PROB_PHPT_APCP_vs_STAGE4_GRIB_APCP_A06_060000L_20160904_180000V_grad.txt
  • grid_stat_PROB_PHPT_APCP_vs_STAGE4_GRIB_APCP_A06_060000L_20160904_180000V.stat
  • grid_stat_PROB_PHPT_APCP_vs_STAGE4_GRIB_APCP_A06_070000L_20160904_190000V_eclv.txt
  • grid_stat_PROB_PHPT_APCP_vs_STAGE4_GRIB_APCP_A06_070000L_20160904_190000V_grad.txt
  • grid_stat_PROB_PHPT_APCP_vs_STAGE4_GRIB_APCP_A06_070000L_20160904_190000V.stat

Take a look at some of the files to see what was generated.

less ${METPLUS_TUTORIAL_DIR}/output/qpf-prob/uswrp/met_out/PHPT/201609041200/grid_stat/grid_stat_PROB_PHPT_APCP_vs_STAGE4_GRIB_APCP_A06_060000L_20160904_180000V.stat

Review the Log Files

Log files for this run are found in ${METPLUS_TUTORIAL_DIR}/output/qpf-prob/logs. The filename contains a timestamp of the current day.

less ${METPLUS_TUTORIAL_DIR}/output/qpf-prob/logs/master_metplus.log.`date +%Y%m%d`

NOTE: If you ran METplus on a different day than today, the log file will correspond to the day you ran. Remove the date command and replace it with the date you ran if that is the case.

Review the Final Configuration File

The final configuration file is metplus_final.conf. This contains all of the configuration variables used in the run.

less ${METPLUS_TUTORIAL_DIR}/output/qpf-prob/metplus_final.conf