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Checker and diagnostics

These files are written every run, regardless of print.prt. Check them first when validating a simulation.

simulation.out

Source

Opened in src/main.f90 on unit 9003 (first 30 lines). Daily progress lines written from src/time_control.f90. Climate-file open events written from src/proc_date_time.f90.

Content

  • Banner: SWAT+ version, revision, compiler, OS, build date.
  • One line per climate file as it is opened.
  • One line per simulated day: 
    <scenario name>  <mon>  <day>  <year>  Yr  <yr>  of  <yr_total>  Time  hh:mm:ss
  • On successful completion, a line Execution successfully completed and a Date of Sim stamp.

Example

                   SWAT+
             Revision 61.0.1-33-g68b1328
      Soil & Water Assessment Tool
IntelLLVM (2024.0.0), 2024-08-27 08:49:23, Linux
    Program reading . . . executing


  Date of Sim   8/27/2024 Time   8:49:51
 reading from pet file                   Time   8:49:51
 reading from precipitation file         Time   8:49:51
 ...
  Original Simulation        1   1  1975 Yr    1 of   46 Time   8:49:51
  ...
  Original Simulation       12  31  2020 Yr   46 of   46 Time   8:49:53

 Execution successfully completed

  Date of Sim   8/27/2024 Time   8:49:53

If Execution successfully completed is absent, the run aborted. Search upward in the file for the last day printed: the failure is on the next simulated day.

diagnostics.out

Source

Opened in src/proc_bsn.f90 on unit 9001. Lines are appended by every *_read.f90 that detects a missing input reference (grep -rn "write *(9001" lists about 60 call sites in the source).

Content

One warning per line. Each warning is the name of a missing reference and the input file that pointed to it. Example:

 DIAGNOSTICS.OUT FILE
 corn_lum                                CORN_rot                                 not found in management.sch
 agrr_lum                                AGRR_rot                                 not found in management.sch
 soyb_lum                                SOYB_rot                                 not found in management.sch
 ames.tem                                          file not found (tgage)
 file not found (basins_carbon.tes)

Read this file end-to-end after every run. Lines here mean SWAT+ silently substituted a default or skipped a setting because the referenced object was not in the database it was supposed to be in. Common categories:

  • <name> not found in management.sch. A land use management points at a schedule that does not exist.
  • <name> not found (initial.cha), (hydrology.cha), (sediment.cha), (nutrients.cha). A channel object points to a property set that does not exist.
  • file not found (<gage>). A weather station refers to a gage file that is missing.
  • file not found (<file>). A control input (carbon coefficients, snow database) is missing.

An empty diagnostics.out (only the header) means no missing references were detected.

checker.out

Source

Opened in src/proc_hru.f90 on unit 4000. Writes one row per HRU after model setup. Header types are output_checker_header and output_checker_unit in src/hydrograph_module.f90.

Format

  • Line 1: scenario name and SWAT+ version.
  • Line 2: column header (chk_hdr).
  • Line 3: unit row (chk_unit). The last cell carries the legend 0=notile;1=tile;.
  • Lines 4+: one row per HRU.
# Column Units Description
1 sname name soil name
2 hydgrp A/B/C/D hydrologic soil group
3 zmx mm maximum rooting depth (soil%zmx)
4 usle_k none USLE soil erodibility factor
5 sumfc mm sum of field capacity over profile
6 sumul mm sum of saturation (upper limit) over profile
7 usle_p none USLE practice factor
8 usle_ls none USLE slope-length-steepness factor
9 esco none soil evaporation compensation factor
10 epco none plant uptake compensation factor
11 cn3_swf none curve-number soil-water adjustment
12 perco none percolation coefficient
13 latq_co none lateral flow coefficient
14 tiledrain 0 or 1 tile drainage flag

Example

refdata/Ames_sub1/checker.out:

 demo                      SWAT+ 2024-08-27        MODULAR Rev 2024.61.0.1-33-g68b1328
                                        zmx       usle_k       sumfc       sumul      usle_p     usle_ls        esco        epco     cn3_swf       perco     latq_co   tiledrain
 sname           hydgrp                 (mm)                    (mm)        (mm)                                                                                     0=notile;1=tile;
soil_01         B                  2000.0000      0.0000    361.5000    616.1781      1.0000      0.3638      0.9500      1.0000      0.0000      0.5000      0.0100           0
soil_02         B                  2000.0000      0.0000    361.5000    445.6733      1.0000      0.3638      0.9500      1.0000      0.0000      0.5000      0.0100           0

Check usle_k, zmx, sumfc, and sumul for unrealistic values (zero, negative, or extreme). A zmx of 2000 mm on every HRU usually means the soil definitions were not parsed and the model fell back to a default.

files_out.out

Source

Opened in src/proc_bsn.f90 on unit 9000. Every open_output_file call that opens an output writes one line here, naming the file and a short tag.

Format

  • Line 1: header files_out.out - OUTPUT FILES WRITTEN.
  • Lines 2+: two columns, tab/space separated.
Column Description
tag CHK, HRU, BASIN, CHN, AQU, RES, MGT, ...
filename the file SWAT+ opened

This is the master inventory: anything actually produced by this run is listed here. If you expect a file and it is missing from files_out.out, the corresponding switch in print.prt was n.

erosion.out

Source

Opened in src/proc_hru.f90 on unit 4001. Writes one row per HRU of the USLE inputs and computed factors. Always on; not switchable in print.prt.

success.fin

Created in src/main.f90 on unit 107. An empty file written only at the end of a successful run. External tools (calibration drivers, test harnesses) test for its existence to confirm the run completed.

erosion.txt

Opened in main.f90 on unit 888. Internal debug log of erosion calculations. Not part of the documented output set.

  1. Open simulation.out and confirm the last line is Execution successfully completed. If not, look at the last printed day.
  2. Open diagnostics.out. Every line is a problem. Resolve each one before trusting any output.
  3. Open checker.out. Confirm zmx, sumfc, sumul are sane per HRU. Confirm tiledrain flag matches your design.
  4. Confirm success.fin exists.
  5. Open files_out.out. Confirm every output file your print.prt requested is listed.