Croton NY Test Case Fails Due to Missing nudgingParams.nc When Nudging Is Enabled

Will H

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Sep 4, 2025, 9:13:57 PMSep 4

to wrf-hydro_users

Issue:
When running the Croton NY standalone test case (example_case/NWM) with nudging = .true. in hydro.namelist, the simulation fails due to a missing nudgingParams.nc file.

Error:

Problem opening file: './DOMAIN/nudgingParams.nc' FATAL ERROR! Program stopped.

Steps to Reproduce:

Clone and build wrf_hydro_nwm_public (v5.4 or latest):

git clone https://github.com/NCAR/wrf_hydro_nwm_public.git cd wrf_hydro_nwm_public && mkdir build && cd build cmake -DHYDRO_D=1 .. && make -j4
Download and extract the Croton NY test case:

wget https://github.com/NCAR/wrf_hydro_nwm_public/releases/download/v5.4.0/croton_NY_training_example_v5.4.0.tar.gz tar -xzvf croton_NY_training_example_v5.4.0.tar.gz
Copy necessary files to the run directory and run:

cp wrf_hydro_nwm_public/build/Run/* domain/NWM/ cp -r example_case/NWM/{DOMAIN,RESTART,nudgingTimeSliceObs,referenceSim} domain/NWM/ cp example_case/NWM/hydro.namelist domain/NWM/ cd domain/NWM ./wrf_hydro.exe

Workaround:
Set nudging = .false. in hydro.namelist to run without data assimilation.

Suggestion:
Recommend either including nudgingParams.nc in the test case package or setting nudging = .false. by default in future releases to avoid confusion.

Thanks.

Will H

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Sep 4, 2025, 9:17:06 PMSep 4

to wrf-hydro_users, Will H

cd "${WRF_FOLDER}"/
mkdir -p "${WRF_FOLDER}"/domain/NWM

#Copy the *.TBL files to the NWM directory.
cp "${WRF_FOLDER}"/Hydro-Basecode/wrf_hydro_nwm_public/build/Run/* "${WRF_FOLDER}"/domain/NWM

#Download test case for WRF HYDRO and move to NWM
cd "${WRF_FOLDER}"/Downloads
wget -c https://github.com/NCAR/wrf_hydro_nwm_public/releases/download/v${HYDRO_CROTON_TEST_CASE}/croton_NY_training_example_v${HYDRO_CROTON_TEST_CASE_MINOR}.tar.gz
tar -xzvf croton_NY_training_example_v${HYDRO_CROTON_TEST_CASE_MINOR}.tar.gz

cp -r example_case/FORCING "${WRF_FOLDER}"/domain/NWM
cp -r example_case/NWM/DOMAIN "${WRF_FOLDER}"/domain/NWM
cp -r example_case/NWM/RESTART "${WRF_FOLDER}"/domain/NWM
cp -r example_case/NWM/nudgingTimeSliceObs "${WRF_FOLDER}"/domain/NWM
cp -r example_case/NWM/referenceSim "${WRF_FOLDER}"/domain/NWM
cp example_case/NWM/namelist.hrldas "${WRF_FOLDER}"/domain/NWM
cp example_case/NWM/hydro.namelist "${WRF_FOLDER}"/domain/NWM

cp -r example_case/FORCING "${WRF_FOLDER}"/domain/NWM
cp -r example_case/NWM/{DOMAIN,RESTART,nudgingTimeSliceObs,referenceSim} "${WRF_FOLDER}"/domain/NWM
cp example_case/NWM/{namelist.hrldas,hydro.namelist} "${WRF_FOLDER}"/domain/NWM

#Run Croton NY Test Case
cd "${WRF_FOLDER}"/domain/NWM
./wrf_hydro.exe

Will H

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Sep 5, 2025, 7:16:00 PMSep 5

to wrf-hydro_users, Will H

More information:

workhorse@workhorse-MS-7D91:~/WRFHYDRO_STANDALONE_INTEL/Hydro-Basecode/example_case/Gridded$ mpirun -np $CPU_QUARTER_EVEN ./wrf_hydro
Calling config noahlsm_offline
WARNING: KDAY is deprecated and may be removed in a future version, please use KHOUR.
Calling config noahlsm_offline
WARNING: KDAY is deprecated and may be removed in a future version, please use KHOUR.
Calling config noahlsm_offline
WARNING: KDAY is deprecated and may be removed in a future version, please use KHOUR.
Calling config noahlsm_offline
Calling config noahlsm_offline
Calling config noahlsm_offline
Calling config noahlsm_offline
Calling config noahlsm_offline
WARNING: KDAY is deprecated and may be removed in a future version, please use KHOUR.
WARNING: KDAY is deprecated and may be removed in a future version, please use KHOUR.
WARNING: KDAY is deprecated and may be removed in a future version, please use KHOUR.
WARNING: KDAY is deprecated and may be removed in a future version, please use KHOUR.
WARNING: KDAY is deprecated and may be removed in a future version, please use KHOUR.
WARNING: In land_driver_ini() - KHOUR < 0. DEFINED USING KDAY.
WARNING: In land_driver_ini() - KHOUR < 0. DEFINED USING KDAY.
WARNING: In land_driver_ini() - KHOUR < 0. DEFINED USING KDAY.
WARNING: In land_driver_ini() - KHOUR < 0. DEFINED USING KDAY.
WARNING: In land_driver_ini() - KHOUR < 0. DEFINED USING KDAY.
WARNING: In land_driver_ini() - KHOUR < 0. DEFINED USING KDAY.
WARNING: In land_driver_ini() - KHOUR < 0. DEFINED USING KDAY.
WARNING: In land_driver_ini() - KHOUR < 0. DEFINED USING KDAY.
Nudging param file
DOMAIN/nudgingParams.nc

Nudging param file
DOMAIN/nudgingParams.nc

Nudging param file
DOMAIN/nudgingParams.nc

Nudging param file
DOMAIN/nudgingParams.nc

Nudging param file
DOMAIN/nudgingParams.nc

Nudging param file
DOMAIN/nudgingParams.nc

Nudging param file
DOMAIN/nudgingParams.nc

Nudging param file
DOMAIN/nudgingParams.nc

reading from hydrotbl_f(HYDRO.TBL.nc) file ....
reading from hydrotbl_f(HYDRO.TBL.nc) file ....
reading from hydrotbl_f(HYDRO.TBL.nc) file ....
reading from hydrotbl_f(HYDRO.TBL.nc) file ....
reading from hydrotbl_f(HYDRO.TBL.nc) file ....
reading from hydrotbl_f(HYDRO.TBL.nc) file ....
reading from hydrotbl_f(HYDRO.TBL.nc) file ....
reading from hydrotbl_f(HYDRO.TBL.nc) file ....
WARNING: get2d_real: failed to find the variables: CHAN_DEPTH and CHAN_DEPTH

Before read LAKEPARM from NetCDF ./DOMAIN/LAKEPARM.nc
NLAKES = 1
read gwbasmskfil as nc format: ./DOMAIN/GWBASINS.nc
read GWBUCKPARM file as nc format: ./DOMAIN/GWBUCKPARM.nc
Problem opening file: 'DOMAIN/nudgingParams.nc'
Problem opening file: 'DOMAIN/nudgingParams.nc'
Problem opening file: 'DOMAIN/nudgingParams.nc'
Problem opening file: 'DOMAIN/nudgingParams.nc'
read_nudging_param_file: Problem opening file 'DOMAIN/nudgingParams.nc'
The job has stopped due to a fatal error:
read_nudging_param_file
---
FATAL ERROR! Program stopped. Recompile with environment variable HYDRO_D set t
o 1 for enhanced debug information.

Abort(1) on node 0 (rank 0 in comm 496): application called MPI_Abort(comm=0x84000003, 1) - process 0

===================================================================================
= BAD TERMINATION OF ONE OF YOUR APPLICATION PROCESSES
= RANK 0 PID 212754 RUNNING AT workhorse-MS-7D91
= KILLED BY SIGNAL: 9 (Killed)

Screenshot from 2025-09-05 18-15-27.png

Will H

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Sep 5, 2025, 7:31:32 PMSep 5

to wrf-hydro_users, Will H

The files I'm looking for exist in 5.2 and 5.3 but not 5.4

Screenshot from 2025-09-05 18-31-19.png

Anderson Ward

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Oct 22, 2025, 10:56:53 PM (8 days ago) Oct 22

to wrf-hydro_users, Will H

Thank you!

Same problem. Glad I came here first. Rebuilt the executable with -DWRF_HYDRO_NUDGING=0.

Soren Rasmussen

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Oct 23, 2025, 11:59:01 AM (8 days ago) Oct 23

to wrf-hyd...@ucar.edu, Will H

Hi Will,

Thanks for finding this! Will be discussing this in a meeting later and will get it fixed.

Cheers,

Soren

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Soren Rasmussen, Ph.D.

Water Cycle Applications Program

Research Applications Laboratory

NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)

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