Python for Atmosphere and Ocean Scientists: Setup

Software installation

In order to complete the lessons, you will need access to the following:

• The bash shell
• A text editor
• Git
• Anaconda or Miniconda, which are Python distributions

If you don’t already have these installed, please follow The Carpentries software installation instructions. (You do not need to install R, which is also listed at that site.)

Troubeshooting

If you have any trouble with software installation, The Carpentries maintain a list of common issues on their Configuration Problems and Solutions wiki page.

Code and Data

In your bash terminal, you will need to

$ git clone https://github.com/pletzer/python-aos-lesson

Then change your folder to

$ mkdir -p python-aos-lesson/code/data
$ cd python-aos-lesson/code/data

In the data directory, download the following files:

• pr_Amon_ACCESS-CM2_historical_r1i1p1f1_gn_201001-201412.nc
• pr_Amon_ACCESS-ESM1-5_historical_r1i1p1f1_gn_201001-201412.nc
• sftlf_fx_ACCESS-CM2_historical_r1i1p1f1_gn.nc
• sftlf_fx_ACCESS-ESM1-5_historical_r1i1p1f1_gn.nc

Installation of additional python packages: via the command line

(Windows users may need to open the Anaconda Prompt program and run conda init bash to make conda available at the Bash Shell.)

Add the conda-forge channel:

$ conda config --add channels conda-forge

Create a new environment called pyaos-lesson and install the packages there:

$ conda create -n pyaos-lesson jupyter xarray dask netCDF4 cartopy cmocean cmdline_provenance defopt

You can activate this new environment as follows:

$ conda activate pyaos-lesson

Software check

To check that everything is installed correctly, follow the instructions below.

Bash Shell

• Linux: Open the Terminal program via the applications menu. The default shell is usually Bash. If you aren’t sure what yours is, type echo $SHELL. If the shell listed is not bash, type bash and press Enter to access Bash.
• Mac: Open the Applications Folder, and in Utilities select Terminal.
• Windows: Open the Git Bash program via the Windows start menu.

Git

• At the Bash Shell, type git --version. You should see the version of your Git program listed.

Anaconda

• At the Bash Shell, type python --version. You should see the version of your Python program listed, with a reference to Anaconda (i.e. the default Python program on your laptop needs to be the Anaconda installation of Python).