# ACCESS-OM2 model setup problem **URL:** \ **Category:** Ocean\ **Tags:** help, community-help\ **Created:** [6 February 2026 10:18 UTC](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/t/access-om2-model-setup-problem/5876 "2026-02-06T10:18:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mauricehuguenin](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.access-hive.org.au/mauricehuguenin/32/125_2.png) [@mauricehuguenin](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/u/mauricehuguenin)\ **Post date:** [6 February 2026 10:18 UTC](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/t/access-om2-model-setup-problem/5876/1 "2026-02-06T10:18:12Z")
Hi all, I’d like to run a new 01deg\_jra55v13\_ryf\_9091 simulation. This is a re-run from a simulation I completed successfully last year and I am using the same configuration since last time. Unfortunately I now get a > FATAL from PE 2626: Error: salinity out of range with value -6.324080775145E+00 at (i,j,k) = (2034,1446, 63), (lon,lat,dpt) = ( -76.6500, 19.6529, 3377.5509 m) abort notification when restarting the simulation again. Andrew mentioned this could be caused by a model setup problem. Near the Antarctic coast (where my salinity drops) is where a few cells in the bathymetry were changed recently and maybe there is a mismatch between my configuration and this input field? These are the input files for my MOM model: ```auto - name: ocean model: mom exe: /g/data/ik11/inputs/access-om2/bin/fms_ACCESS-OM_97e3429_libaccessom2_1bb8904.x input: - /g/data/ik11/inputs/access-om2/input_08022019/mom_01deg ``` I am aware I am using a rather old executable and the reason for it is that this one allows me to save WMT diagnostics in temperature space. Could it be that the `/g/data/ik11/`inputs are not compatible anymore with my .exe files? ---
**Author:** ![anton](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.access-hive.org.au/anton/32/1836_2.png) [@anton](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/u/anton)\ **Post date:** [8 February 2026 22:45 UTC](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/t/access-om2-model-setup-problem/5876/2 "2026-02-08T22:45:38Z")
I think this is probably the thread with the changes made: > > > I'm getting crashes like this from time to time: > \`\`\` > FATAL from PE 3457: Err…or: temperature out of range with value 3.081776472849E+02 at (i,j,k) = (2153,2093, 2), (lon,lat,dpt) = ( -64.7500, 64.3310, 1.7294 m) > \`\`\` > always at the same i,j=2153,2093 but with k=2 or 3. This is at the coast on the southern side of the mouth of Cumberland Sound on the east coast of Baffin Island, Canada. This is marked by the red circle in the figures below. It looks like \`/g/data3/hh5/tmp/cosima/bathymetry/topog\_latest.nc\` has a large shallow estuary with a 1-cell mouth on Hall Peninsula, whereas in \`/g/data3/hh5/tmp/cosima/bathymetry/gebco.nc\` this is a series of islands and fjords. > > I think we could just close off the "estuary". @russfiedler what do you think? Would you have a chance to look at this sometime soon? > > !\[screen shot 2018-06-12 at tue 12-6 9 08am\](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/31054815/41261682-2e1fc8b2-6e20-11e8-945e-e830057fc378.png) > > !\[screen shot 2018-06-12 at tue 12-6 8 57am\](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/31054815/41261410-e98c679c-6e1e-11e8-9978-32e5aa7e48d9.png) > > !\[screen shot 2018-06-12 at tue 12-6 8 58am 1\](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/31054815/41261403-dfd87010-6e1e-11e8-82a5-10949e348ba0.png) `(lon,lat,dpt) = ( -76.6500, 19.6529, 3377.5509 m)` is in the [Caribbean Sea somewhere](https://www.google.com/maps/place/19%C2%B039'10.4%22N+76%C2%B039'00.0%22W/@19.652905,-81.9234373,3223597m/). Although I am surprised there is 3000m depth there ? > [@mauricehuguenin](#): > > Could it be that the `/g/data/ik11/`inputs are not compatible anymore with my .exe files? The files in `/g/data/ik11/inputs/access-om2/input_08022019/mom_01deg` are all from February 2019, and don’t look like they changed over time (based on their date stamps) ---
**Author:** ![lawrenceabird](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.access-hive.org.au/lawrenceabird/32/3271_2.png) [@lawrenceabird](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/u/lawrenceabird)\ **Post date:** [9 February 2026 00:47 UTC](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/t/access-om2-model-setup-problem/5876/3 "2026-02-09T00:47:23Z")
Hi @mauricehuguenin: Thanks for starting this topic. @anton was quick to the mark here (thanks Anton!) and has pointed you to a useful topic that should help you out. I’m going to mark this topic with the #community-help tag so that folks from COSIMA can provide any additional support, since I think this points to some legacy COSIMA experiments. Please continue to post any additional comments/queries here! Thanks, Lawrence ---
**Author:** ![mauricehuguenin](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.access-hive.org.au/mauricehuguenin/32/125_2.png) [@mauricehuguenin](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/u/mauricehuguenin)\ **Post date:** [20 March 2026 13:53 UTC](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/t/access-om2-model-setup-problem/5876/4 "2026-03-20T13:53:10Z")
I managed to solve this issue by changing the `ice_ocean_timestep` in `accessom2.nml` from 540 to 720. During the first few months of the simulation, I had to adjust the time step a few more times but eventually the model stabilised itself enough that it did not abort anymore after year 2 of the simulation. While troubleshooting, I chose any of the following time steps: > The timestep is normally set to a factor of the JRA55-do forcing period of 3hr = 10800s, for example one of 100, 108, 120, 135, 144, 150, 180, 200, 216, 225, 240, 270, 300, 360, 400, 432, 450, 540, 600, 675, 720, 900, 1080, 1200, 1350, 1800, 2160, 2700, 3600 or 5400s. The default timestep for this configuration is 1350 seconds, and the model is stable with this timestep right from the start. After the first year or two of model equilibration you may be able to run with a 1800s timestep for faster throughput. ---
**Author:** ![mauricehuguenin](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.access-hive.org.au/mauricehuguenin/32/125_2.png) [@mauricehuguenin](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/u/mauricehuguenin)\ **Post date:** [20 March 2026 13:53 UTC](https://forum.access-hive.org.au/t/access-om2-model-setup-problem/5876/5 "2026-03-20T13:53:53Z")
PS: What a relief! 😄