The WRF model tar file was updated to Version 3.2 on April 2, 2010.

The WRF Pre-Processing System (WPS) was also upgraded to Version 3.2.

WRF Version 3.2 new features, updates and bug fixes

WRF-NMM specific updates

• Added Operational Hurricane WRF (HWRF) components to the community-released version of WRF-NMM. These enhancements include:
• Vortex following moving nest for NMM
• Ocean coupling (with POM)
• Changes in diffusion coefficients
• Modifications/additions to physics schemes (tuned for the tropics)
• Added new HWRF microphysics scheme
• Added new HWRF radiation scheme
• Updated existing SAS cumulus scheme
• Updated existing GFS boundary layer scheme
• Added the capability to update SSTs during a long simulation from auxinput for NMM.
• Added a new highly-conservative passive advection scheme to NMM.
• Updated Registry information
• Allow real_nmm to read WPS metgrid output in binary format
• Other miscellaneous bug fixes

General updates

Phyiscs:

• NEW:
• Milbrandt-Yau double moment microphysics (mp_physics = 9), including separate hail and graupel categories (contributed from Milbrandt, Environment Canada)
• shallow convection option in G3 cumulus scheme (ishallow = 1)
• BEM: building energy model (sf_urban_physics = 3). Including building anthropogenic terms (contributed from F. Salamanca and A. Martilli of CIEMAT, Spain) (Ref: A new Building Energy Model coupled with an Urban Canopy Parameterization for urban climate simulations_part II. Validation with one dimension off-line simulations'. Theor Appl Climatol DOI 10.1007/s00704-009-0143-8)
• Chen-Zhang modified Zilitinkevich thermal roughness length for sf_sfclay_physics = 2 and sf_sfclay_physics = 1 (iz0tlnd = 1) (Ref: F. Chen and Y. Zhang (2009), On the coupling strength between the land surface and the atmosphere: From viewpoint of surface exchange coefficients. Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L10404, doi:10.1029/2009GL037980).
• Garratt surface enthalpy flux option (isftcflx = 2) for tropical storms
• dissipative heating for tropical storms (isftcflx > 0)
• Atmospheric Radiation:
• RRTM longwave: fix for top cooling problem (S. Cavallo), hydrostatic pressure input
• CAM radiation: hydrostatic pressure input, OpenMP fix, fix input moisture converting to specific humidity
• GFDL radiation: input hydrostatic pressure instead of computing it
• RRTMG radiation: minor fix to longwave clear-sky, cloud effects now include ice plus snow, not just ice
• Goddard shortwave: hydrostatic pressure input
• Microphysics:
• Thompson microphysics: improve efficiency of table initialization
• WRF Single and Double Moment microphysics schemes: added semi-lagrangian fall terms, correction for precip going to LSMs with long time-steps (> 120 s)
• Morrison microphysics: use model constants instead of own
• Lin microphysics: add snow information output, fixes for Chem use
• Cumulus:
• GD cumulus: minor mods including hydrostatic pressure input
• G3 cumulus: input hydrostatic pressure
• KF cumulus schemes: minor fix for rainfall going to LSMs
• Planetary boundary layer physics:
• QNSE surface/pbl: fix 2m and 10m diagnostics
• GWDO (gravity wave drag, ARW version): use hydrostatic pressure for stability with thin layers
• ACM2 PBL: minor improvements
• MYNN PBL: output PBL height
• YSU PBL: minor correction for Prandtl number in unstable conditions and change for upper-air mixing scale
• MYJ PBL: fix to PBL height computation
• Surface physics:
• Noah LSM: output diagnostic relative soil moisture (smcrel), improve snow-cover, improve budget terms (internal)
• BEP urban option: improvements
• slope/shading effects generalized to all shortwave options and moved to surface driver
• PX LSM: add sea ice and lake ice effects
• hydrostatic pressure used for many of the physics options. also available in history output (p_hyd) for post-processing.

Software:

• run-time input/output field specification and increased number of auxiliary I/O streams (see README.io_config)
• improve domain decomposition for MPI and OpenMP to increase the maximum number of processors/threads allowed
• added support for GPU acceleration of microphysics (WSM3 and WSM5) using PGI 10.3 accelerator directives
• WRF and WPS ported to 64-bit Windows (read more)
• improved performance and scaling to 10^5 cores on high-end systems including Blue Gene/P and Cray XT5
• ESMF 4 support