Quick Start Guide

This guide will help you run your first pySnowClim simulation.

Basic Usage

1. Prepare Your Data

pySnowClim requires meteorological forcing data. Create a data directory structure:

data/
├── forcing_data.nc        # NetCDF with forcing variables
└── parameters.json        # Model parameters (optional)

The forcing data should contain these variables:

  • lrad - Longwave radiation (kJ/m²/timestep)

  • solar - Solar radiation (kJ/m²/timestep)

  • tavg - Air temperature (°C)

  • ppt - Precipitation (m/timestep)

  • vs - Wind speed (m/s)

  • psfc - Surface pressure (hPa)

  • huss - Specific humidity (kg/kg)

  • relhum - Relative humidity (%)

  • tdmean - Dewpoint temperature (°C)

2. Run the Model

from src.runsnowclim_model import run_model

# Run with default parameters
results = run_model(
    forcings_path='data/forcing_data.nc',
    parameters_path=None,  # Use defaults
    outputs_path='outputs/',
    save_format='.nc'
)

3. Command Line Usage

You can also run pySnowClim from the command line:

python run_main.py data/forcing_data.nc outputs/ parameters.json .nc

Understanding the Output

The model will generate several output files in NetCDF format:

  • SnowWaterEq.nc - Snow water equivalent (mm)

  • SnowDepth.nc - Snow depth (mm)

  • SnowMelt.nc - Snow melt (mm/timestep)

  • Albedo.nc - Surface albedo (dimensionless)

  • Energy.nc - Net energy flux (kJ/m²/timestep)

  • And many more...

See Output Variables for a complete description of all output variables.

Next Steps