MCIP version 4.3 Release Notes

The MCIP code is updated to version 4.3. These release notes and the change log reflect all changes that have been made to MCIP since MCIPv4.2 (the last official release). Changes to MCIPv4.3 were made by Tanya Spero (U.S. EPA). User contributions are also noted below. The detailed list of changes to the MCIP code is in the CHANGES file, which is part of the MCIP tar file in the "doc" sub-directory.

MCIPv4.3 requires I/O API version 3.1 or greater to support error-checking within the I/O API. Note that CMAQv5.1 requires I/O API v3.2.

MCIPv4.3 requires the netCDF F90 module (rather than the F77 include).

Users are encouraged to read the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) file, which is located in the MCIP tar file in the "doc" sub-directory.

Users should consult the FAQ before submitting inquiries to M3User, CMAS, or the code developers.

MCIPv4.3 has been tested with the following Fortran compilers under both debug and optimized options: Intel 13.1, Intel 15.0, Portland Group 4.7, and gfortran 4.4.7. MCIPv4.3 has been tested with netCDF 4.3.1 and 4.3.2, and I/O API 3.1.

Interactions with the following users (in alphabetical order) have resulted in some of the code changes/corrections that were made for MCIPv4.3:

Patrick Campbell, North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC Shantha Daniel, TCEQ, Austin, TX Hosein Foroutan, U.S. EPA, Research Triangle Park, NC Bill Hutzell, U.S. EPA, Research Triangle Park, NC Chris Nolte, U.S. EPA, Research Triangle Park, NC Jon Pleim, U.S. EPA, Research Triangle Park, NC Shawn Roselle, U.S. EPA, Research Triangle Park, NC

The following is a summary of the changes in MCIPv4.3:

1. Recompute Monin-Obukhov length if Pleim-Xiu land-surface model is used in WRF because local MOL in ACM2 on the WRF time step is not actually passed to WRF output. Makes MOL usage in CMAQ consistent with other on-time-step calculations in WRF.
2. Updated to accommodate optional lake category in WRF USGS and MODIS land use classifications.
3. Removed requirement that fractional land use field (FRC_URB) is part of WRF output when the urban canopy model is used.
4. Added 3D cloud fraction to METCRO3D output. This field is only created when 3D cloud fraction from WRF is exclusively comprised of resolved cloud.
5. Changed latent heat flux from "QFX" to "LH" in METCRO2D to be consistent with name in WRF and WRF-CMAQ coupled model.
6. Updated metadata for new physics options in WRFv3.6, WRFv3.6.1, and WRFv3.7.
7. Added code to realign soil category classification from Pleim-Xiu land-surface model with the WRF indexing. (Code is dormant and reserved for future use.
8. The following output variables in METCRO2D are now deprecated. The default CMAQ no longer uses these fields, and they will be removed from METCRO2D in the next release of MCIP:
   1. cloud fraction (CFRAC)
   2. cloud top (CLDT)
   3. cloud bottom (CLDB)
   4. iquid water content (WBAR)
9. Minor changes to make MCIP more robust across compilers.