ASCEND vs MPTRAC
ASCEND
ascend4.orgMPTRAC
slcs-jsc.github.ioSide by side
| Figure | ASCEND | MPTRAC |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 2 |
| Spec score · Physics Simulation Software | 8.2 (#23) | 8.7 (#7) |
| Authoring tools | Yes | No |
| Data export | Yes | Yes |
| Delivery mode | desktop | hybrid |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| License | ASCEND is released under the General Public License. | The repository states that MPTRAC is distributed under the GNU General Public License v3.0. |
| Purpose | ASCEND solves systems of equations and is aimed at engineers and scientists. | MPTRAC is a Lagrangian particle dispersion model for analyzing atmospheric transport in the free troposphere and stratosphere. |
| Support | The site invites users to report bugs, contact the team, and contribute models and other work. | The project directs questions, support, and collaboration inquiries to Dr. Lars Hoffmann at the Jülich Supercomputing Centre. |
Plans
In their own words
MPTRAC
MPTRAC is a Lagrangian particle dispersion model for studying atmospheric transport in the free troposphere and stratosphere. It calculates forward and backward air-parcel trajectories from meteorological wind fields, with stochastic diffusion, subgrid wind variation and mixing between parcels. Optional process parameterizations cover convection, sedimentation, decay, gas-phase and aqueous-phase chemistry, and wet and dry deposition. Listed research applications include long-range pollutant transport, volcanic ash dispersion, tracer experiments and atmospheric chemistry.
The browser-based Web Runner can configure, run and visualize simulations, then download results without local installation. It is limited to 10,000 air parcels, 30 days and 10 minutes of model runtime. The model needs meteorological input, normally netCDF files on a regular pressure, longitude and latitude grid. MPTRAC supports hybrid MPI, OpenMP and OpenACC parallelization, and offers visualization interfaces for Gnuplot and ParaView. It is GPL-3.0 software for Linux, self-hosted and web use; listed pricing includes free.