Guidance on Coupling WRF with CLM Land Surface Model

[23Dr0230]

Hi everyone,
I am interested in coupling the WRF model with the Community Land Model (CLM) and would appreciate guidance from the community.
I would like to understand:

1. Whether WRF–CLM coupling is currently supported in the public WRF release
2. The recommended version combinations of WRF and CLM (if applicable)
3. Any documentation, tutorials, or example cases available for setting up WRF–CLM
4. Required code modifications or compilation options for enabling CLM within WRF
5. Common pitfalls or limitations when using CLM as the land surface model in WRF

My research focuses on land–atmosphere interactions, and I am particularly interested in improving surface flux representation for regional climate simulations.

 

[haiqingsong]

Latest WRF supports CLM4.
CTSM（CLM5） coupled to WRF：3.4.1. Using CTSM with WRF — ctsm CTSM master documentation

 

[Ming Chen]

The CLM has been incorporated into WRFv3.5 in 2013. The CLM version coupled is CLM4.0 from CAM.

Are you planning to couple a newer version of CLM?

 

[23Dr0230]

Thank you for your response.
I am currently using WRF version 4.0, and I plan to work with CLM version 4.0. At this stage, I am not planning to couple a newer CLM version; my goal is to understand whether the existing CLM4.0 implementation within WRFv4 can be used directly, or if any additional configuration or code-level adjustments are required.
I would also appreciate any guidance on:

• Whether CLM4.0 in WRFv4 is stable and recommended for regional climate simulations
• Specific compilation options or namelist settings needed to activate CLM in WRFv4
• Any known issues when using CLM with newer WRF versions compared to WRFv3.5

Thank you again for your time and help.

 

[Ming Chen]

Please see my answers below:

Thank you for your response.
I am currently using WRF version 4.0, and I plan to work with CLM version 4.0. At this stage, I am not planning to couple a newer CLM version; my goal is to understand whether the existing CLM4.0 implementation within WRFv4 can be used directly, or if any additional configuration or code-level adjustments are required.
I would also appreciate any guidance on:

• Whether CLM4.0 in WRFv4 is stable and recommended for regional climate simulations

CLM4.0 is stable in WRF. However, Noah is more commonly used for climate simulation.

• Specific compilation options or namelist settings needed to activate CLM in WRFv4

configure.wrf contains the flag "-DWRF_USE_CLM", which tells the model to compile CLM

sf_surface_physics = 5 is the option for CLM activation.

• Any known issues when using CLM with newer WRF versions compared to WRFv3.5

After CLM was coupled into WRF, we well tested its performance before the release. I don't think there are any issues or significant updates since CLM was incorporated into WRF.

Thank you again for your time and help.