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ACCESS-AM3
Release: 1.0-alpha
This an ACCESS-NRI release of ACCESS-AM3, an global coupled atmosphere-land model. More information about the model is available on the ACCESS Hive Docs.
What can you expect to be able to do with this?
A user should be able to
- take this suite and run it as-is, which will run a year long atmosphere-land coupled simulation using Rose/Cylc.
- build the code with Spack, using the
mainbranches of the ACCESS-NRI UM and JULES.
This is an alpha release with the intention of getting feedback from the community.
It will be fit to use and test. Known issues are listed below, but there may be some issues that have not yet been discovered and fixed. The suite may change during the alpha testing period as improvements are made. If that happens updates will made in this topic.
The documentation is incomplete at this stage. It is suitable for experienced users to run the suite, but inexperienced users may need to wait until a beta release to run the suite with confidence.
Definitions of release stages, what they mean is available on the Hive Docs:
Release stages - ACCESS-Hive Docs
For the reasons stated above this alpha release is intended for testing only and is not recommended for use in published research.
Feedback
We welcome feedback from all interested users. This is a chance to improve this proposed new release.
Please make suggestions or report problems in replies to the ACCESS-AM3 1.0-alpha Feedback topic.
A beta release is envisaged in April 2026. Any feedback before Monday 2nd March will be considered for incorporation in the beta release.
ACCESS-NRI is interested in all feedback, positive or negative, but in particular we would like to know:
- Are the instructions clear and easy to follow? Is there anything unclear, missing or incorrect?
- The usability of the build system
How to use
- How to run ACCESS-AM3
- access-am3-config docs, which contains the ACCESS-AM3 configuration documentation. The documentation is currently under construction, and any contributions are welcome.
Features
Coupling of CABLE biogeophysics
Energy and water balance better or similar to ACCESS-CM2. More information to be added to the configuration documentation for or before the beta release.
Documentation (in preview mode)
Pre-compiled executable, build and deployed using ACCESS-NRI pipeline
Run sequence managed using Rose and Cylc
Default performance: 2 model month / hour (wall time), 1.3kSU / model month
Model data output usage: 10GB / model month (default, depends on STASHPACK choices)
Temporary work file usage: 2.5GB / model month (Automatically pruned. Only data for most recent model run. Can be deleted after run)
Limitations
Uses a 360-day calendar.
Limited testing undertaken: Notably use of alternate configurations of CABLE and/or alternate land cover maps may not work.
No ancillary suite released to create a different set of ancillary files.
Known Issues
Dust source location and strength need more investigation
Model outputs are stored in /scratch . Currently it is a user responsibility to copy this to long term storage if that is a requirement.
Output is provided in UM netCDF, multivariable format, not CMOR’ised single variable netCDF.
Future developments
Inclusion of Australian-specific tree types following ACCESS-ESM1.6 developments
Sourcing CABLE directly from the CABLE repository as a library to ensure a single source for the CABLE code
Finish the coupling of the biogeochemistry for CABLE
Release a high-resolution (N512) configuration
Add an urban scheme
Activation of CABLE’s groundwater scheme
Credits (Latest developments only)
Coupling of CABLE to JULES and the UM (@Jhan , @inh599, @MartinDix , @clairecarouge , @ben )
Evaluation of the surface energy and water balances (@inh599 , @MartinDix )
Documentation (@lachlanswhyborn , @clairecarouge , @atteggiani, @heidi)
Build and deployment infrastructure with Spack (@TommyGatti, @paulleopardi , @ben , @harshula , @Aidan )
Support
Replies to this topic are disabled.
If you have specific questions about this release please reply to the ACCESS-AM3 1.0-alpha Feedback topic.
As this is an alpha release for testing and feedback purposes, support is limited.