Python for Atmosphere and Ocean Science

ICSHMO 2022

Online

Tuesday 8 February, 2022

10:00 am - 5:30 pm

Instructors: Jonny Williams, Alexander Pletzer, Jorge Bornemann

Helpers: Erik Behrens, Wolfgang Hayek, Victoria Huang, Chris Scott, Stuart Moore, Arnaud Valcarcel

General Information

Python is rapidly emerging as the programming language of choice for data analysis in the weather, climate and ocean sciences. By consulting online tutorials and help pages, most researchers in this community are able to pick up the basic syntax and programming constructs (e.g. loops, lists and conditionals). This self-taught knowledge is sufficient to get work done, but it often involves spending hours to do things that should take minutes, reinventing a lot of wheels, and a nagging uncertainty at the end of it all regarding the reliability and reproducibility of the results. To help address these issues, this Data Carpentry workshop will cover a suite of programming best practices that aren’t so easy to glean from a quick Google search.

For more information on what we teach and why, please see our paper "Good Enough Practices for Scientific Computing".

Who: The course is aimed at graduate students and other researchers. Participants must already be using Python for their data analysis. They don't need to be highly proficient, but a strong familiarity with Python syntax and basic constructs such as loops, lists and conditionals (i.e. if statements) is required.

Where: This training will take place online. The instructors will provide you with the information you will need to connect to this meeting.

When: Tuesday 8 February, 2022. Add to your Google Calendar.

Requirements: Participants must have access to a computer with a Mac, Linux, or Windows operating system (not a tablet, Chromebook, etc.) that they have administrative privileges on. They should have a few specific software packages installed (listed below).

Accessibility: We are dedicated to providing a positive and accessible learning environment for all. Please notify the instructors in advance of the workshop if you require any accommodations or if there is anything we can do to make this workshop more accessible to you.

Contact: Please email Alexander.Pletzer@niwa.co.nz for more information.

Roles: To learn more about the roles at the workshop (who will be doing what), refer to our Workshop FAQ.


Code of Conduct

Everyone who participates in Carpentries activities is required to conform to the Code of Conduct. This document also outlines how to report an incident if needed.


Surveys

Please be sure to complete these surveys before and after the workshop.

Pre-workshop Survey

Post-workshop Survey


Schedule

10:00-10:30 Let's get started
10:30-12:30 Package Management, Data Processing, Visualisation and Functions
12:30-13:30 Break
13:30-15:30 Command Line Programs, Defensive Programming and Large Data
15:30-16:00 Break
16:00-17:00 Downloading CMIP6 data

The complete lesson notes can be found at https://pletzer.github.io/python-aos-lesson/.


Software and Data

Software installation instructions and links to download the workshop data files can be found at https://carpentries-lab.github.io/python-aos-lesson/setup.html.

In order to avoid delays at the beginning of the workshop, we also ask that everyone follows the optional python package installation instructions at that page.

Please complete the data download and software installation prior to arriving at the workshop.