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Release Notes

This page contains the release notes for all available SURF-SHYFEM versions, ordered by release date (from latest to oldest).

v2.1.0 — 2026-07-08 latest

  • Automatic vertical grid generation: the levels parameter is no longer required in the Base configuration. Users can now choose between providing an explicit list of z-levels or using automatic generation via a hyperbolic tangent stretching scheme (NEMO 5.0-like), which distributes levels with finer resolution near the surface and coarser spacing toward the bottom. The new parameters Number of vertical levels (n_levels, default: 60) and First level depth (first_level, default: 2 m) control the automatic distribution. In the Expert configuration, the additional parameters Layer Transition Point (hth) and Grid Stretching Factor (hcr) allow for further customization.

  • New simulation output format: simulation results are now saved as a single compressed NetCDF4 file (surf.nc), replacing the previous separate surf.ous.nc and surf.nos.nc files. Physical variables are provided at the node positions of the unstructured grid. The compression level can be controlled via the new Compression Level parameter (compression_level, default: 2.0) in the Expert configuration.

  • Simulation start time: a new optional Start time parameter (start_time, format: HHMMSS, default: 120000) has been added to the simulation configuration.

  • Bottom heat absorption: the Bottom Heat Absorption parameter (botabs) is now user-configurable in the Expert configuration. When set to 0 (default), all remaining solar radiation is absorbed in the last ocean layer. When set to 1, the bottom absorbs all remaining solar radiation.

  • Chunked downloads for CMEMS and ECMWF: atmospheric and ocean forcing data are now downloaded in configurable time chunks via the new Download chunk length parameter (download_chunk, default: 7 days) available in the Expert configuration. On download failure, the system automatically retries with progressively smaller chunk sizes. All variables are downloaded in a single API request per chunk.

  • Configurable river data path: the path to the river datasets is now user-configurable via the new Path parameter in the River Forcing at Domain Boundaries section of the JSON configuration file. Previously, the river data was required to be placed in a fixed, non-modifiable directory.

  • SSH initial conditions skipped: the SSH field is no longer downloaded or used for ocean initialization. The SHYFEM-MPI model is now always initialized from rest for sea surface height.

  • Improved robustness of the open boundary node extraction and ordering during grid generation.

  • Support for multiple open boundaries when the nested domain polygon intersects features such as islands or other land elements.

    Horizontal grid automatically generated for the civitavecchia domain.

  • Parallel execution support is now integrated with SHYFEM-MPI.

  • Control the level of corner smoothing applied to the grid. Sharp corners can also be retained by disabling this feature.
  • Provide customized coastline shapefiles as input for experiments.

Bug Fixes

  • Fixed a time-centering issue affecting daily-averaged CMEMS forcing products, which caused a 12-hour phase shift in the forcing data.
  • Updated product identifiers for the Mediterranean Sea reanalysis datasets to match the current CMEMS data store catalog naming convention.
  • Fixed an issue in the pre-processing step where domains defined in negative longitudes (e.g., western hemispheric regions) were not being correctly processed.

v2.0.0 — 2025-06-11

  • Rewrote the SURF code using a modular, object-oriented Python architecture, replacing the previous procedural design.
  • The structured and unstructured components (SURF-NEMO and SURF-SHYFEM) have been unified under common conventions, workflow and execution frameworks.
  • Created a Docker image designed for seamless installation, execution, and cloud/HPC deployment.
  • Added automatic download of all the required input data, including CMEMS ocean data (via Copernicus Marine Toolbox), ERA5 atmospheric data (via CDSAPI service) and TPXO8 tidal forcing, GEBCO-2024 bathymetry and GSHHG coastlines.

v1.00 — 2021-06-24

This is the first release of the surf_shyfem package.