Determine what format your air quality model will accept for meteorology data and convert data to I/O API format if needed.

If you are modeling with CMAQ or MAQSIP, then the data will be in the I/O API format created by MCIP or MCPL that SMOKE can accept. If you are modeling with UAM, REMSAD, or CAM_X, then you must check to see which meteorology format the model accepts. Some versions of these models can use the same I/O API format as for CMAQ, but some cannot.

If your meteorology data are not in the correct format, then you will need to convert the data. There is currently no utility provided with SMOKE to convert the meteorology format needed by some versions of UAM, REMSAD, and CAM_X to SMOKE input format.

Ensure required variables are included in meteorology data

Ensure meteorology data cover the correct time period

Ensure meteorology data are on the correct grid

As described in Section 4.4.9.2, “Installing or changing spatial input files” step 5, check that the meteorology grid and modeling grid are consistent.

Install meteorology data

The meteorology data should be installed in the $METDAT directory, as explained in Chapter 3, SMOKE Directory Structure. The names of the files are up to you.

Ensure that the meteorology data names match with the names in the Assigns file

Edit the Assigns file and look for the $METDAT variable. Ensure that it is consistent with the actual location of the meteorology files. Also check the settings for GRID_CRO_2D, GRID_CRO_3D, MET_CRO_2D, MET_CRO_3D, and MET_DOT_3D and make sure that the naming scheme for these files is consistent with your file names.