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Preparing inputs from scratch or raw data
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.. important::

   **How to use the** :doc:`cheat-sheet</documentation/dependencies>` **for plugins**

   The following sections require using plugins and providing their specifications.
   Arguments for each plugin are documented on its individual documentation page.
   To make finding plugins easier, the cheat-sheet organizes them by **type**
   (the leftmost column, e.g. chemistry, controlvect, fields).
   For each type, available plugins are listed with their **name** and **version**.
   Specifying a plugin's name and version is mandatory; specifying its type is not always necessary.

Domain
=======

The :doc:`up to 4 files defining the simulation domain </documentation/doc-models/chimere/coordfiles>`
can be generated as explained in :doc:`making a new domain</usertutos/chimere_tutos/newdomain>`.

For a horizontal or vertical grid that is not pre-coded, the relevant files can be written manually.

The domain must be generated using a simple YAML as shown in
:doc:`the tutorial above</usertutos/chimere_tutos/newdomain>`, or created by hand, or taken from ready-made files.
The domain is then used when generating all other inputs.
 
 
Chemistry
==========

The 12 files defining a chemical scheme for CHIMERE are not pre-processed by the CIF.
See :doc:`the dedicated documentation</documentation/doc-models/chimere/chemistry>` to create them, or use one of the existing schemes.

  
Meteorology
===========
 
The CIF can pre-process ECMWF grib files into the format required by CHIMERE.

The recommended approach is to generate the required METEO.nc files in advance,
as explained in :doc:`generating meteo from ECMWF</usertutos/chimere_tutos/meteo>`, and store them.
Note that pre-processing the meteorology requires a domain to be defined first.

Their content should be checked with plots, maps, etc.

The simulations can afterwards point to these METEO.nc files,
as shown in :doc:`the tutorial for a simulation from ready-made files</usertutos/first-simu-readymade/chimere/inputs>`.

Emissions
=========

The CIF can pre-process various raw files into the format required for CHIMERE's
AEMISSIONS and BEMISSIONS, as explained in :doc:`generating emission files from raw data</usertutos/chimere_tutos/emissions>`.

It can also combine ready-made files, as explained :doc:`here</usertutos/elaborated-inputs/chimere/index>`.

Both approaches can be combined, as shown in :ref:`chimere-emissions-one-species-combine-raw-readymade`.


Boundary conditions
===================

The CIF can pre-process various raw files into the format required for CHIMERE's INI_CONCS and BOUN_CONCS, as explained in :doc:`generating boundary conditions from raw data</usertutos/chimere_tutos/bc>`.

It can also combine ready-made files, as explained :doc:`here</usertutos/elaborated-inputs/chimere/index>`.

Both approaches can be used together as shown in :ref:`chimere-emissions-one-species-combine-raw-readymade`.