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FLEXPART Version 6.2 for MM5 (V3.7)
Beta version as of 2008-07-17
README File
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For general information on the FLEXPART Lagrangian particle
model, please see http://transport.nilu.no/flexpart

Gerhard Wotawa has long ago provided a FLEXPART version for MM5.
This version is based on FLEXPART Version 3.0 which is now by
far outdated. 

In 2006/07, Paul Skomorowski and Petra Seibert have updated this 
version to the more recent Version 6.2 of the base FLEXPART (which is
designed for ECMWF input fields). Besides introducing all the
new features made available in the FLEXPART base version in the meantime, 
some limitations and errors present in the old code were eliminated.

The main MM5-specific improvements are:

1. Proper consideration of the map projection, not just
the scale factor at true lat/lon, in most places.

2. Elimination of a serious bug in the transformation of the vertical
velocity when reading in MM5 output and bringing it to the FLEXPART
grid (subroutines verttransform.f and verttransform_nest.f).

3. Implementation of truly horizontal diffusion instead of horizontal 
diffusion on the model levels (which in FLEXPART follow the topography 
through all of the 3D domain)


However, this version has still not been completely tested and
some features are not implemented. Among those are

1. Turbulence parameterisation based on TKE output of MM5.

2. Convection parameterisation which has been introduced for FLEXPART 6.2

Therefore, we consider this a beta version!!!

You are invited to use and also to improve it with the following rules:

- Please subscribe to the FLEXPART mailing list at
  http://transport.nilu.no/flexpart so that you receive information
  on future updates etc.
  
- Please report back any bugs and improvements so that they can be 
considered in the public version

- If you plan to do and publish tests with tracer experiments,
please consider inviting the developers as co-authors (I would
like to seriously contribute in any case)

- Add an acknowledgement in any case.

- The best available reference at the moment is

P. Seibert and P. Skomorowski, 2007,
Untersuchungen der orografischen Besonderheiten der Probenahmestellen 
Schauinsland und Freiburg und deren Auswirkungen auf die Genauigkeit 
von adjungierten atmosphärischen Ausbreitungsrechnungen,
Schriftenreihe Reaktorsicherheit und Strahlenschutz, 
BMU - 2008 - 713, on-line at http://www.bmu.de/41875.

Please note that the text available there at the moment is based on a 
version with the bug of verttransform not yet corrected ! 
We hope to be able to replace it with an improved version later.

Petra Seibert, BOKU-Met
2008-07-23
petra seibert at boku ac at
