Dragos B. Chirila Knihy

Geared towards newcomers in numerical computation within Earth system sciences, this guide serves as an introduction to Fortran 90/95. It is particularly useful for students, researchers, and scientific programmers, offering insights into how familiar programming techniques from other languages can be adapted to Fortran 95. The book aims to bridge the gap for those transitioning to this language, making it accessible and practical for a diverse audience.

This book describes the latest advances at the Helmholtz “Earth System Science Research School” where scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute in Bremerhaven, the University of Bremen, and the Jacobs University are involved in research. One of the greatest challenges is understanding ongoing environmental changes. The longer the time scale the more components of the Earth system are involved, e.g. interannual and decadal variations are related to the coupled atmosphere-ocean-sea ice system, whereas longer variations like glacial-interglacial or Cenozoic transitions involve the carbon cycle, ice sheets and gateways. In order to get deep insights into Earth system science, observations, remote sensing, past environmental data, as well as modeling need to be integrated. These different approaches are traditionally taught in separated disciplines at bachelor and master levels. It is, therefore, necessary to bring these disciplines together in PhD programs.

This work serves as a concise "getting started" guide to Fortran 90/95, targeting newcomers in numerical computation within Earth system sciences, including students, researchers, and scientific programmers. It also benefits readers familiar with other programming languages by illustrating how their techniques translate to Fortran 95. The primary aim is to help readers quickly begin writing practical programs in Fortran 95. The guide introduces Input/Output facilities relevant to Earth system sciences, progressing from basic options to the more advanced netCDF library, a standard for managing extensive datasets in the field. Unlike other works that treat these topics separately and often overwhelm beginners with excessive information, this book offers a streamlined approach that connects them. It presents a compact view of the language and emphasizes applied examples related to numerical computing and advanced Input/Output facilities. While the coverage of the programming language is relatively shallow, omitting many details, it allows practitioners to gradually learn these aspects after gaining an overview and some hands-on experience with the language through this guide.