Flux Output Files

The primary output file type for the VIC-NL model is the flux file, which contains information about moisture and energy fluxes for each time step. These output files are based on the model output files used for the PILPS-2C project. The full energy model produces the same number of columns as found in the PILPS-2C files for comparison purposes. Most of the columns contain the same information, but a few are not currently used (see file description below for details). Since the model does not compute surface energy fluxes when run in water balance mode, those parameters are not included in the output from that model

Full Energy Balance Model Flux Files

ASCII Format
Binary Format

Water Balance Only Model Flux Files

ASCII Format
Binary Format

Each output file contains model output from one grid cell. The files use the naming convention "fluxes_xx.xx_yy.yy", where xx.xx is the latitude, and yy.yy is the longitude. The number of decimal places in the output file is determined by GRID_DECIMAL in the model control file, while the latitude and longitude values come from the soil parameter file.

Full Energy Balance Model Flux Files

ASCII Format

Fluxes file ASCII column format:

Column	Variable Name	Units	Description
1	year	year	Year of current record
2	month	month	Month of current record
3	day	day	Day of current record
4	hour	hour	Hour of current record (if time step is sub-daily)
5	prec	mm	Precipitation for current record
6	evap	mm	Evaporation for current record
7	runoff	mm	Runoff for current record
8	baseflow	mm	Baseflow for current record
9	Wdew	mm	Canopy interception of liquid water
10: Nlayer+9	moist[]	mm	Moisture content of each soil layer
Nlayer+10	rad_temp	K	Radiative temperature of the surface
Nlayer+11	net_short	W/m²	Net shortwave radiation at the surface
Nlayer+12	r_net	W/m²	Net radiation at the surface, includes long and shortwave radiation
Nlayer+13	latent	W/m²	Latent heat from the surface
Nlayer+14	evap_canop	mm	Evaporation from canopy storage
Nlayer+15	evap_veg	mm	Transpiration from the vegetation
Nlayer+16	evap_bare	mm	Evaporation from bare soil
Nlayer+17	sub_canop	mm	Sublimation from canopy interception
Nlayer+18	sub_snow	mm	Sublimation from ground snow pack
Nlayer+19	sensible	W/m²	Sensible heat flux from the surface
Nlayer+20	grnd_flux	W/m²	Ground heat flux plus heat storage in the top soil layer
Nlayer+21	aero_resist	s/m	Aerodynamic resistance
Nlayer+22	surf_temp	C	Surface temperature
Nlayer+23	albedo	fraction	Albedo of surface cover

Example File:

Binary Format

Fluxes file Binary record format:

Column	Data Type	Variable Name	Units	Description
1	int	year	year	Year of current record
2	int	month	month	Month of current record
3	int	day	day	Day of current record
4	int	hour	hour	Hour of current record (if simulation time step is sub-daily)
5	float	prec	mm	Precipitation for current record
6	float	evap	mm	Evaporation for current record
7	float	runoff	mm	Runoff for current record
8	float	baseflow	mm	Baseflow for current record
9	float	Wdew	mm	Canopy interception of liquid water
10: Nlayer+9	float	moist[]	mm	Moisture content of each soil layer
Nlayer+10	float	rad_temp	K	Radiative temperature of the surface
Nlayer+11	float	net_short	W/m²	Net shortwave radiation at the surface
Nlayer+12	float	r_net	W/m²	Net radiation at the surface, includes long and shortwave radiation
Nlayer+13	float	latent	W/m²	Latent heat from the surface
Nlayer+14	float	evap_canop	mm	Evaporation from canopy storage
Nlayer+15	float	evap_veg	mm	Transpiration from the vegetation
Nlayer+16	float	evap_bare	mm	Evaporation from bare ground
Nlayer+17	float	sub_canop	mm	Sublimation from the canopy
Nlayer+18	float	latent	mm	Sublimation from the ground snow pack
Nlayer+19	float	sensible	W/m²	Sensible heat flux from the surface
Nlayer+20	float	grnd_flux	W/m²	Ground heat flux plus heat storage in the top soil layer
Nlayer+21	float	aero_resist	s/m	Aerodynamic resistance
Nlayer+22	float	surf_temp	C	Surface temperature
Nlayer+23	float	albedo	fraction	Albedo of surface cover

Example File:

Water Balance Only Model Flux Files

ASCII Format

Data is in an ASCII column format:

Column	Variable Name	Units	Description
1	year	year	Year of current record
2	month	month	Month of current record
3	day	day	Day of current record
4	hour	hour	Hour of current record (if time step is sub-daily)
5	prec	mm	Precipitation for current record
6	evap	mm	Evaporation for current record
7	runoff	mm	Runoff for current record
8	baseflow	mm	Baseflow for current record
9	Wdew	mm	Canopy interception of liquid water
10: Nlayer+9	moist[]	mm	Moisture content of each soil layer
Nlayer+10	net_short	W/m²	Net shortwave radiation at the surface
Nlayer+11	r_net	W/m²	Net radiation at the surface, includes long and shortwave radiation
Nlayer+12	evap_canop	mm	Evaporation from canopy intercepted water
Nlayer+13	evap_veg	mm	Transpiration from vegetation
Nlayer+14	evap_bare	mm	Evaporation from bare ground
Nlayer+15	sub_canop	mm	Sublimation from the canopy
Nlayer+16	sub_snow	mm	Sublimation from ground snow cover
Nlayer+17	aero_resist	s/m	Aerodynamic resistance
Nlayer+18	surf_temp	C	Surface temperature
Nlayer+19	albedo	fraction	Albedo of surface cover

Example File:

Binary Format

Fluxes file Binary record format:

Column	Data Type	Variable Name	Units	Description
1	int	year	year	Year of current record
2	int	month	month	Month of current record
3	int	day	day	Day of current record
4	int	hour	hour	Hour of current record (if simulation time step is sub-daily)
5	float	prec	mm	Precipitation for current record
6	float	evap	mm	Evaporation for current record
7	float	runoff	mm	Runoff for current record
8	float	baseflow	mm	Baseflow for current record
9	float	Wdew	mm	Canopy interception of liquid water
10: Nlayer+9	float	moist[]	mm	Moisture content of each soil layer
Nlayer+10	float	net_short	W/m²	Net shortwave radiation
Nlayer+11	float	r_net	W/m²	Net radiation
Nlayer+12	float	evap_canop	mm	Evaporation from canopy intercepted water
Nlayer+13	float	evap_veg	mm	Transpiration from vegetation
Nlayer+14	float	evap_bare	mm	Evaporation from bare ground
Nlayer+15	float	sub_canop	mm	Sublimation from the canopy
Nlayer+16	float	sub_snow	mm	Sublimation from the ground snow cover
Nlayer+17	float	aero_resist	s/m	Aerodynamic resistance
Nlayer+18	float	surf_temp	C	Surface temperature
Nlayer+19	float	albedo	fraction	Albedo of surface cover