Through "ARPEGE/ALADIN files" one points out the main kind of files used to interface programms of the ARPEGE/ALADIN suite, that is to say :
– guess and primary results from analysis ;
– initial conditions (to start only) and primary outputs from the forecasting model or its initialization ;
– input and output of the post-processing designed to feed a database ;
– input and output of the post-processing designed to make boundary files for the limited area model ALADIN ;
– result of preinitialization, or more generaly result of any program designed to use data that are external to the Arpege/Aladin software,or from a different model configuration.
– constant and climatology fields ;
– possibly : mean fields or fields cumulated in time.

The structure of these files is indexed per name, using the indexed files package "LFI" (Logiciel de Fichiers Indexés).

The "FA" documentation was written by Jean Clochard, Ryad El Khatib and Denis Paradis.
The first english version translated from the french one which was updated in November, 2000, and corresponding to the cycle xr22 (winter 1999/2000), with references to the extensions for the limited area cases (ALADIN, Full-POS).
New update in July 2004 (XR28T1), due to types -1 and 3 encoding introduction (use of GRIBEX).

Contents :

• GENERALITIES ABOUT THE RECORDED DATA
  ARPEGE/ALADIN files
  • Structure of the recorded data
  • Auto-documentation
  • Encoding options
  • GRIB descriptors
• GENERALITIES ABOUT THE INTERFACES
  • Location of files
  • Location of fields
  • Environnment of the interfaces
• DESCRIPTION OF THE USER INTERFACES
  • List and purpose
  • Recommendations
• HEADERS OF THE USER INTERFACES
• CATALOG OF THE FILES ARPEGE/ALADIN
  • Historical (or ICMSH) files
  • Coupling files ALADIN
  • Climatology files
  • Post-processing files