Topics Covered
I. Basic Python programming
- Getting started
- Syntax and data types
- Strings
- Mathematical operators and functions
- Structure and control
- File I/O
- Numpy arrays
- Functions and modules
- Defining classes and methods
II. Plotting and visualization with Matplotlib
- 1-D plotting
- Multi-panel plots
- 2-D plotting
- Cartopy for plotting maps
- 3-D plotting
III. Additional topics
- Dates and times
- Pandas
- Reading scientific data sets
- Regular expressions
- Linear algebra
- Fourier analysis
IV. Miscellany
- Interpolation and resampling
- Linear regression
- Numerical differentiation and integration
- Smoothing of data
- Saving and loading arbitrary Python objects
- Physical constants
- Physical dimensions and units
- Special mathematical functions
- Speed and optimization of code
Appendices
- Jupyter notebooks - a primer
- LaTeX quick reference
The book includes numerous figures (many in color), tables, and executable example programs.
Alex DeCaria is a professor of meteorology at Millersville University, where among other courses he teaches a class in Python programming and visualization for undergraduate meteorology and ocean sciences majors. He is coauthor of A First Course in Atmospheric Numerical Modeling, also published by Sundog Publishing.Grant Petty is a professor of atmospheric science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he teaches courses in atmospheric physics, meteorological measurements, and satellite meteorology. Data analysis using Python plays a central role in many lab exercises in his courses as well as in his research. He is also the author of A First Course in Atmospheric Radiation and A First Course in Atmospheric Thermodynamics.
Resources
1. Errata
This document lists all known errors that have been found in earlier printings and editions of this book. They are corrected in later printings.
2. Sample data files and Jupyter notebooks
Selected code samples from the book are provided as Jupyter notebooks, along with required sample data sets in this GitHub repository. See the README information at the bottom of the repository listing for download instructions.
Book Details
Author: Alex J. DeCaria and Grant W. Petty
- Pages: 346
- Publisher: Sundog Publishing LLC
- Publication Date: 2021
- ISBN-13: 978-09729033-5-6
- Binding: perfect paperback 8.25 x 11"
- Figures: 90