CIOFC1.0: a common parallel input/output framework based on C-Coupler2.0

Abstract

As earth system modeling develops ever finer grid resolutions, the inputting and outputting (I/O) of the increasingly large data fields becomes a processing bottleneck. Many models developed in China, as well as the community coupler (C-Coupler), do not fully benefit from existing parallel I/O supports. This paper reports the design and implementation of a common parallel input/output framework (CIOFC1.0) based on C-Coupler2.0. The CIOFC1.0 framework can accelerate the I/O of large data fields by parallelizing data read/write operations among processes. The framework also allows convenient specification by users of the I/O settings, e.g., the data fields for I/O, the time series of the data files for I/O, and the data grids in the files. The framework can also adaptively input data fields from a time series dataset during model integration, automatically interpolate data when necessary, and output fields either periodically or irregularly. CIOFC1.0 demonstrates the cooperative development of an I/O framework and coupler, and thus enables convenient and simultaneous use of a coupler and an I/O framework.