Defining a field_table

The UFS Weather Model requires as one of its inputs (documented here) a field_table file in a custom format. Its contents can be defined in a UW YAML, then created with uwtools.

To generate a given field_table entry with the form:

"TRACER", "atmos_mod", "sphum"
          "longname",     "specific humidity"
          "units",        "kg/kg"
          "profile_type", "fixed", "surface_value=3.e-6" /

Entries can be represented in YAML with the form:

sphum:
  longname: specific humidity
  units: kg/kg
  profile_type:
    name: fixed
    surface_value: 3.e-6

Additional tracers may be added at the same level of YAML indentation as sphum: in the above example.

UW YAML Keys

sphum:

The short name of the tracer, to create the corresponding field_table entry’s first line.

longname:

The descriptive name of the tracer.

units:

The units of the tracer, to create the corresponding field_table entry’s "units" line.

profile_type:

This block requires a name: entry that describes the profile type. Acceptable values (per the field_table spec) are fixed or profile. The surface_value: is required in both cases, while the top_value: is required for only the profile option.