Day 7 - The day the model ran!

The model:

After many valiant efforts, the model finally ran. To do this I had to update input.dat with all my case specific information eg. where my files where, what my data was like, what I wanted my output to be etc. This sounds a lot more simple than it actually is, because every line in input.dat has to be perfect and readable by the model.

Then we compiled the model in C and ran it. Regine updated the model and the handbook which I now I have my hands on (the bible!).

The output is just a txt file of discharge for whatever days and time steps you asked for and then this can be plotted graphically. There are multiple options for output, but this is the most simple. I need to get the actual discharge data and compare and that is where calibration of the model comes in because I can change things in the model to make it represent the actuale data.

Originally, the model would not run on the windows laptop of hers that I was using, but then we tried it on her mac and it worked. We think that the windows laptop does not have enough memory to run the model. The goal for the future is to have the model run on my laptop. I need gcc on my computer to do this as well as all the updated files and directory.

MATLAB:

I also worked on plotting things in Matlab and playing around with that. It was fun. I produced this figure. I need to learn how to be able to plot multiple years.

Today is my birthday!

Day 6

10am-6pm

-downloaded the student version of MATLAB.

We decided that it would be best to work from my computer and have all the matlab and files I needed on my laptop so I could have it with me for future reference. It cost me about 100 smakeroos, but I guess that is what I'm getting paid for. I need to get a C compiler on my computer and then I should be all set. All the IDL stuff is on her laptop still though. Not really sure how I will be able to transfer between the two.

-Prepped input files to run the model for Gulkana in IDL.

This was a lot more complicated than it sounds. In order to calculate melt, the model needs the solar geometry of the topographic area to calculate the direct radiation. Using IDL we created grids for aspect and slope and DEM (elevation). Once all of this was working we looked at the DEM for the Gulkana drainage basin. The data from the USGS was incomplete and missing a section. This was not good. With the help of Anna in hydrology, we were able to use the drainage basin she had created and multiply it by the DEM for the total area and fill in the missing values. Once we had a complete and accurate drainage basin, we ran the direct radiation program in C++. The output for this comes in the form of a binary file for the average direct radiation for every day for a year. This does not change from year to year and we can look at each file as a grid in IDL. The model then uses this information to help calculate melt.

We also talked about the difference between firn and ice. At the end of the summer when the most melt has occured, firn is the snow that stays on the glacier where as ice is the ice. The firn has a much higher albedo and reflects a lot more light than ice because ice is darker, therefore the two have different melt factors. This is acknowledged in Regine's model and is another input file that the model uses to calculate total melt.

After using IDL and C more today I feel a little more comfortable navigating in these programs and I feel like I'm getting a better sense of the model and the multiple components that it contains. Regine explained to me that we have the simple temperature-index model which is simply a degree day factor (DDF), two different ones for ice and snow, multiplied by a temperature. Then her more refined model breaks down the DDF into a melt factor and radiation based on topography because different slopes and aspects will have different melt.

After today we now have all the input files needed to run her more refined model and to create an output simulated discharge. Hopefully this is what we will accomplish tomorrow. This is just so I can get a general sense of how to run the model and all the dials and nobs that need to be refined and tuned. The meat of the project then is comparing the simulated discharge to the discharge data from the USGS (which we still need to obtain) and then calibrate the model to fit the two data sets as close together as possible. All the while, also working on putting everything into MATLAB.

-I got on board doing some field work in Yakutat for a few weeks at the end of August with Barbara. I'm really excited about this and looking forward to it!

Day 5

9am-5pm

The goal:
Convert all of Regine's DEM grid data and climate plots from IDL to MATLAB.

The plan:
Start by writing a MATLAB program that plots temp and precip and discharge data as a line graph (x-axis: time, y-axis: temp, precip, discharge) from Gulkana glacier. The program must ask for the input data file, in ascii form (or binary?), and then plot the graph and possibly provide the user with max, min, and mean of each element. Hopefully, I will be able to refine the program so that it is user friendly and easy to work with in MATLAB. The end result would be three graphs with the same timescale so that they could be easily compared and easy to work with and show simulated and real data for each element.

Next, is being able to visually represent the elevation, aspect, and slope of the topography from DEM data of Gulkana like her IDL program does. Regine gave me a simple input DEM data to grid program to work off of. The goal for this would be to refine it again to be as user friendly as possible and to display two maps of different times and be able to find the difference. The input files must be in binary form, however, I could easily write a program that transfers files from bin to ascii and ascii to bin, though she already has a C program for this.

Questions:
Still not really sure how C fits into all of this?
How is the simulated data actually created? Have only glipsed at the real model.
Need to get MATLAB and a C++ compiler on my computer (ask Dad)
Need discharge data from Gulkana
Need aspect, slope, and elevation data from Gulkana still?

Worked on today:
Put all the excel temp/precip data in the right form and exported it as an ascii file.

Next step:
Import that data into MATLAB and creating a plot. Then create a program that does all of this for me.

Day 4

9am-5pm

MATLAB day

Learned how to use MATLAB and write basic programs. My major accomplishment was writing a program from scratch that solved for the roots of quadratic equations and going through a tutorial on writing a program for projectile motion. cool.

Day 3

9am-5pm

Overview of model

Yikes! Crash course of the model with Joanna and Regine in the morning. Joanna will also be using the model this summer and hopefully we can work together when we get stuck!

Day 2

9am-5pm

I met everyone in the department and talked with Regine and Anthony about the project and we created a plan. I got the USGS files for temp and precip of Gulkana and begin putting them in a better format.

Day 1

8am-5pm

-Permafrost Tunnels with the International Summer School in Glaciology program.



This program was put on by the glaciology dept. for graduate students. They were in McCarthy for 10 days. I really hope I can do this one day. We went to the permafrost tunnels run by the Army Core of Engineers. It was really neat. There are giant ice wedges and frozen bacteria and mammoth bones.

http://www.gi.alaska.edu/snowice/glaciers/events/summer_school/

http://www.alaska.edu/uaf/cem/ine/permafrost_tunnel/permafrost-tunnel.xml



-Attended an afternoon lecture series about snow, ice, and permafrost

It was really informative. Lots of stuff I didnt understand but it was a good introduction and I enjoyed hearing about all the projects going on at UAF centered about arctic research.