API Reference

Backend Entrypoint

The xarray backend entrypoint registered as engine='amrex'.

Parameters

When using xr.open_dataset(..., engine='amrex'), the following parameters are supported:

filename_or_objstr, Path, or list

Single plotfile directory or list of plotfile directories for time series

levelint, default 0

AMR level to load (0 = base level, 1+ = refined levels)

drop_variablesstr or list of str, optional

Variable names to exclude from the dataset

Example

import xarray as xr

# Single file
ds = xr.open_dataset('plt00000', engine='amrex', level=0)

# Time series
ds = xr.open_dataset(['plt00000', 'plt00100'], engine='amrex', level=0)

# With options
ds = xr.open_dataset(
    files,
    engine='amrex',
    level=1,
    drop_variables=['w_vel', 'AKt']
)

Core Components

The backend is implemented using these main classes:

AMReXCGridStore

Data store for C-grid AMReX plotfiles with staggered variables

FABLoader

Lazy loader for FAB (Fortran Array Box) data using dask

CGridCoordinateGenerator

Generates properly scaled coordinates for C-grid points and AMR levels

GridDetector

Automatically detects grid types and dimensions from plotfile structure

These classes are used internally and don’t need to be accessed directly.