How to visualize WRF-Fire output in VisTrails

Local Simulation Execution

• Download the tar ball ([1])
  • Place the VisTrails packages into /Users/XXX/.vistrails/userpackages/
    • NumSciPy -- contains the wrapper modules for NumPy and SciPy functions
    • WRFtoVTK -- contains the wrf to vtk file conversion modules
    • demoNetwork -- contains the client modules to communicate with the server
    • extendDialog -- contains masked text dialogs for passwords
  • Move the VisTrails workflow to a known location (i.e. /Users/XXX/Desktop/visExample/)
    • fireDemoSC2009.vt -- the VisTrails workflow for conversion and visualization
  • Move the simulation inputs to a known location (i.e. /Users/XXX/Desktop/visExample)
    • sc2009inputs -- contains example simulation input files

• Run the simulation with the example inputs (/Users/XXX/Desktop/visExample/sc2009inputs/)
  • Wait for the simulation to complete
• Store the WRFOUT within a known directory (i.e. /Users/XXX/Desktop/visExample/sc2009outputs/)
  • Setup a directory to save VTK files that will be generated from WRFOUT (i.e. /Users/XXX/Desktop/visExample/sc2009outputs/vtkFiles/)

• Run VisTrails and open the workflow (fireDemoSC2009.vt)
  • Begin by navigating the history tree
  • Execute the 'WRFOUT Conversion' node (top of the right most branch)
    • Prompts for the WRF directory (/Users/XXX/Desktop/visExample/sc2009outputs/)
    • Prompts for the VTK directory (/Users/XXX/Desktop/visExample/sc2009outputs/vtkFiles)
    • Wait for the conversion to complete (all modules turn green)
  • Execute the 'Fire Demo Visualization' node (top of the left most branch)
    • Prompts for the VTK directory (/Users/XXX/Desktop/visExample/sc2009outputs/vtkFiles)
    • Prompts for the Animation Delay (hit enter)
    • View the spread sheet to interact with the visualization

Cluster-based Simulation Execution

Setting up the Python server on a remote machine or cluster

• Build the simulation binaries on the cluster
• On the cluster setup a home directory for the server
• Within this directory create virtual links to:
  • ideal.exe -- the ideal simulation setup executable
  • real.exe -- the real simulation setup executable
  • wrf.exe -- the simulation binary
• Within this directory copy over the server files from the previous tar ball
  • demoNetwork/execServer.py -- to be used on the cluster to launch the server
  • demoNetwork/fireServer.py -- the server code
  • demoNetwork/fireMessages.py -- the message passing scheme and code
  • demoNetwork/userRegistration.py -- user registration script
  • demoNetwork/README.txt -- a readme file explaining server setup in more detail
• Execute the python script to start the server (requires python 2.5 or greater)
  • On the command line within the directory: python execServer.py
• View and remember the listening port output by the server

Registerating New Users with the Server

• Log in to the cluster hosting the server
• Change to the server home directory on the cluster
• Execute the python script for user registration
  • On the command line: python userRegistration.py <username> <password>