Lagrangian particle dispersion modelling at the Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research (INAR), University of Helsinki, on Roihu (CSC supercomputer).
Everything here assumes you are working on (and have access to) Roihu.
| Folder | What it is | Use it when |
|---|---|---|
FLEXPART_v11/ |
FLEXPART v11 — the standard model, driven by ECMWF (ERA5 / operational) data | You want global or continental-scale runs, and complex terrain is not a problem. Recommended for most cases |
FLEX_EXTRACT/ |
flex_extract — retrieves and prepares the ECMWF input files FLEXPART v11 needs | Always, before running FLEXPART v11 |
WRF-FLEXPART/ |
FLEXPART-WRF v3.3.2 — offline dispersion driven by your own WRF output | You are working on complex terrain and need high spatial resolution, and you already have WRF output. Not recommended for most cases |
analysis_scripts/ |
post-processing scripts for WRF-FLEXPART. If you want to use them for a "normal" FLEXPART run, you need to adapt them | After a WRF-FLEXPART run |
Each folder has its own README.md with the full compile-and-run instructions for
Roihu.
Log in to the CPU login node and clone into /projappl, not into $HOME:
ssh -A -X <username>@roihu-cpu.csc.fi
# code lives in /projappl (backed up, quota for software)
cd /projappl/project_XXXXXXX/$USER
git clone git@github.com:ManuelBettines/FLEXPART-INAR.git FLEXPART
cd FLEXPARTWhere things belong on Roihu:
| Path | For |
|---|---|
/projappl/project_XXXXXXX/$USER/ |
source code, executables, namelists — this repository |
/scratch/project_XXXXXXX/$USER/ |
wrfout / ECMWF input and model output (large, not backed up, auto-cleaned) |
Replace project_XXXXXXX with your own CSC project. Nothing in this repository
hard-codes a project number: pass it as sbatch --account=project_XXXXXXX, or export
SBATCH_ACCOUNT=project_XXXXXXX once in your ~/.bashrc.
A non-exhaustive list of studies by INAR members and collaborators that used FLEXPART or FLEXPART-WRF:
- Bianchi, F., Junninen, H., Bigi, A., et al. (2021): Biogenic particles formed in the Himalaya as an important source of free tropospheric aerosols, Nat. Geosci., 14, 4–9. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-020-00661-5
- Aliaga, D., Sinclair, V. A., Andrade, M., et al. (2021): Identifying source regions of air masses sampled at the tropical high-altitude site of Chacaltaya using WRF-FLEXPART and cluster analysis, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 16453–16477. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16453-2021
- Hakala, S., Vakkari, V., Bianchi, F., et al. (2022): Observed coupling between air mass history, secondary growth of nucleation mode particles and aerosol pollution levels in Beijing, Environ. Sci.: Atmos., 2, 146–164. https://doi.org/10.1039/D1EA00089F
- Xavier, C., Baykara, M., Wollesen de Jonge, R., et al. (2022): Secondary aerosol formation in marine Arctic environments: a model measurement comparison at Ny-Ålesund, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 10023–10043. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10023-2022
- Boyer, M., Aliaga, D., Quéléver, L. L. J., et al. (2024): The annual cycle and sources of relevant aerosol precursor vapors in the central Arctic during the MOSAiC expedition, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 12595–12621. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12595-2024
- Bettineschi, M., Vitali, B., Cholakian, A., et al. (2025): Across land, sea, and mountains: sulphate aerosol sources and transport dynamics over the northern Apennines, Environ. Sci.: Atmos., 5, 1023–1034. https://doi.org/10.1039/D5EA00035A
- Foreback, B., Clusius, P., Baykara, M., et al. (2025): A Lagrangian view on severe haze in Beijing: local and long-range sources of trace gases and primary and secondary aerosols, Atmos. Environ., 363, 121602. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2025.121602
- Clusius, P., Baykara, M., Xavier, C., et al. (2026): Modelling the impact of anthropogenic aerosols on CCN concentrations over a rural boreal forest environment, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 26, 1967–1992. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-1967-2026
- Agrò, M., Bettineschi, M., Melina, S., et al. (2026): Ventilation and low pollution enhancing new particle formation in Milan, Italy, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 26, 6521–6539. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-6521-2026
- FLEXPART home page — https://www.flexpart.eu/
- flex_extract — https://www.flexpart.eu/flex_extract/
- CSC Roihu user documentation — https://docs.csc.fi/
- FLEXPART-WRF: Brioude, J., Arnold, D., Stohl, A., et al. (2013): The Lagrangian particle dispersion model FLEXPART-WRF version 3.1, Geosci. Model Dev., 6, 1889–1904. https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-6-1889-2013
- FLEXPART v10/v11: Pisso, I., et al. (2019): The Lagrangian particle dispersion model FLEXPART version 10.4, Geosci. Model Dev., 12, 4955–4997. https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-4955-2019
GNU General Public License v3 or later — see LICENSE for the full text.
FLEXPART_v11/ is FLEXPART v11, copyright the FLEXPART developers as named in the file
headers (SPDX-FileCopyrightText: FLEXPART 1998-2019), released under the GPLv3 or later
(FLEXPART_v11/LICENSE). This repository redistributes it under the same terms.
WRF-FLEXPART/ is FLEXPART-WRF v3.3.2, copyright J. Brioude, D. Arnold, A. Stohl
and the other FLEXPART authors named in the file headers, released under the GPLv3.
This repository redistributes it under the same terms.
FLEX_EXTRACT/ is a different licence: © 2014–2020 Anne Philipp, Leopold Haimberger and
Petra Seibert under CC-BY-4.0 (FLEX_EXTRACT/LICENSE.md), except the Fortran sources
under FLEX_EXTRACT/Source/Fortran/, which are GPL-2.0.
The Roihu-specific build, setup, run and analysis scripts written for this repository are released under CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0-1.0). To the extent permitted by law, they may be copied, modified, distributed and used for any purpose without permission or attribution.
For questions, suggestions or requests: manuel.bettineschi@helsinki.fi