Python for Meteorology

We will be making use of Dropbox to share code. If you’ve never used Dropbox, it is a free tool that allows you to “sync” your files between a website and multiple computers. So, if you do not have a Dropbox account, sign Up for Dropbox using this link and we both get extra space! For even more space, sign up with a .edu email address!

Links We Will Be Using

• Enthought’s Free Python Distribution
• SciPy
• NumPy
• Matplotlib
• Basemap
• Python Imaging Library (PIL)
• Python Tutorial Videos

Data Files

• 2010 Oklahoma City Temperature Records (CSV
• 2011 HWT Model Forecast Sounding Locations (txt format)

Assignments

• 24 October 2011: Using the 2011 HWT Model Forecast Sounding Locations file (located above), find the nearest sounding locations to the four points below.
  1. Loc1: 36°34’43.25″N, 97°21’49.64″W
  2. Loc2: 36°29’28.39″N, 97°35’37.86″W
  3. Loc3: 36°46’3.18″N, 97°32’50.93″W
  4. Loc4: 36°36’19.01″N, 97°29’8.43″W

  Some hints:

  1. The points above are given in “Degrees, Minutes, Seconds” whereas the locations contained in the file are given in “Degrees.Decimal”. In order to compute the distance, both locations must be given in the same format.
  2. To compute distances on a sphere, one must use the “Great Circle” calculations.

Click to view my solution