A configuration is defined to be “all of the switches and options a user selects when setting up a simulation” and is required for any run of the JULES model ("switches and options" includes driving and ancillary data, i.e. a configuration is intended to be the minimum set of switches, files and other information that would allow someone to uniquely replicate another's model run). For further information, see Configuration management in JULES by Anna Harper.
Most users start off using one or other of the following configurations:
| Configuration set | Description | Support |
|---|---|---|
Core configurations |
Recommended for all JULES users. These are routinely maintained and updated as part of each JULES release. These configurations are guaranteed to produce output that is bit-comparable between JULES versions (if the driving and ancillary data are also the same). |
Available via JULES support |
Research community configurations |
Contributed by the JULES community. | NOT supported officially, although advice may be requested informally via the JULES community mailing list |
Example configurations |
There are some example configurations intended for test runs (e.g. Loobos and others mentioned here). |
Note that despite their wide use for Rose stem testing, these configurations are NOT supported for science: these are just meant to get the user up and running with JULES and to test particular modules of the JULES code. |
n.b. the list of 'standard jobs' in the table here (JULESvn5.0 and later) comprises the core and example configurations used for Rose stem testing.
n.b.2 There is some debate about whether or not driving data and ancillary files are included in a configuration (on these pages we follow the decision from 2016 (see link to doc above) and say yes, but e.g. this page takes a different view), but really this is just a matter of terminology. If you run a GL simulation based on WFDEI driving data (1) and then run again using the same parameter settings but CRU-NCEP driving data instead (2), have you changed to a different configuration or are (1) and (2) the same configuration just using different driving data? The important thing is to be aware that some people take one view and others take the other and to make sure you specify everything as precisely as you can.