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Kevin Hallock 6 years ago
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      doc/source/tutorials/wrf_workshop_2019.rst

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doc/source/tutorial.rst

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.. toctree::
:maxdepth: 1
tutorials/wrf_workshop_2019.rst
Past Tutorials

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WRF Users' Workshop 2019
=========================
Welcome WRF-Python Tutorial attendees!
If you wish to actively participate in the tutorial, please bring your own
laptop. **Due to limited time constraints, the instructions below should be
completed prior to arriving at the tutorial**.
I will be executing the same cells as the student workbook, so if you prefer
to sit and watch, that's OK too. Following the tutorial, I will upload
the instructor slides in to the same GitHub location as the student workbook if
you want to try it out later.
Prerequisites
---------------
This tutorial assumes that you have basic knowledge of how to type commands
in to a command terminal using your preferred operating system. You
should know some basic directory commands like *cd*, *mkdir*, *cp*, *mv*.
Regarding Python, to understand the examples in this tutorial, you
should have some experience with Python basics. Below is a list of some
Python concepts that you will see in the examples, but don't worry if you aren't
familiar with everything.
- Opening a Python interpreter and entering commands.
- Importing packages via the import statement.
- Familiarity with some of the basic Python types: str, list, tuple, dict, bool, float, int, None.
- Creating a list, tuple, or dict with "[ ]", "( )", "{ }" syntax (e.g. my_list = [1,2,3,4,5]).
- Accessing dict/list/tuple items with the "x[ ]" syntax (e.g. my_list_item = my_list[0]).
- Slicing str/list/tuple with the ":" syntax (e.g. my_slice = my_list[1:3]).
- Using object methods and attributes with the "x.y" syntax (e.g. my_list.append(6)).
- Calling functions (e.g. result = some_function(x, y))
- Familiarity with numpy would be helpful, as only a very brief introduction
is provided.
- Familiarity with matplotlib would be helpful, as only a very brief
introduction is provided.
If you are completely new to Python, that shouldn't be a problem, since
most of the examples consist of basic container types and function calls. It
would be helpful to look at some introductory material before arriving at the
tutorial. If you've programmed before, picking up Python isn't too difficult.
Here are some links:
https://www.learnpython.org/
https://developers.google.com/edu/python/
Step 1: Open a Command Terminal
--------------------------------
To begin, you will first need to know how to open a command line terminal for
your operating system.
For Windows:
.. code-block:: none
WINDOWS + r
type cmd in the run window
For Mac:
.. code-block:: none
Finder -> Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal
For Linux:
.. code-block:: none
Try one of the following:
CTRL + ALT + T
CTRL + ALT + F2
Step 2: Download Miniconda
----------------------------
For this tutorial, you will need to download and install Miniconda. We are
going to use Python 3.7, but it will also work with Python 2.7.
Please use the appropriate link below to download Miniconda for your operating
system.
.. note::
64-bit OS recommended
`Win64 <https://repo.continuum.io/miniconda/Miniconda3-latest-Windows-x86_64.exe>`_
`Mac <https://repo.continuum.io/miniconda/Miniconda3-latest-MacOSX-x86_64.sh>`_
`Linux <https://repo.continuum.io/miniconda/Miniconda3-latest-Linux-x86_64.sh>`_
For more information, see: https://conda.io/miniconda.html
.. note::
**What is Miniconda?**
If you have used the Anaconda distribution for Python before, then you will
be familiar with Miniconda. The Anaconda Python distribution includes numerous
scientific packages out of the box, which can be difficult for users to build and
install. More importantly, Anaconda includes the conda package manager.
The conda package manager is a utility (similar to yum or apt-get) that installs
packages from a repository of pre-compiled Python packages. These repositories
are called channels. Conda makes it easy for Python users to install and
uninstall packages, and also can be used to create isolated Python environments
(more on that later).
Miniconda is a bare bones implementation of Anaconda and only includes the
conda package manager. Since we are going to use the conda-forge channel to
install our scientific packages, Miniconda avoids any complications between
packages provided by Anaconda and conda-forge.
Step 3: Install Miniconda
----------------------------
Windows:
1. Browse to the directory where you downloaded Miniconda3-latest-Windows-x86_64.exe.
2. Double click on Miniconda3-latest-Windows-x86_64.exe.
3. Follow the instructions.
4. Restart your command terminal.
Mac and Linux:
For Mac and Linux, the installer is a bash script.
1. Using a terminal, you need to execute the bash shell script that you downloaded by
doing::
bash /path/to/Miniconda3-latest-MacOSX-x86_64.sh [Mac]
bash /path/to/Miniconda3-latest-Linux-x86_64.sh [Linux]
2. Follow the instructions.
3. At the end of the installation, it will ask if you want to add the
miniconda3 path to your bash environment. If you are unsure what to do,
you should say "yes". If you say "no", we're going to assume you know
what you are doing.
If you said "yes", then once you restart your shell, the miniconda3 Python
will be found instead of the system Python when you type the "python"
command. If you want to undo this later, then you can edit
either ~/.bash_profile or ~/.bashrc (depending on OS used) and
comment out the line that looks similar to::
# added by Miniconda3 x.x.x installer
export PATH="/path/to/miniconda3/bin:$PATH"
4. Restart your command terminal.
5. [Linux and Mac Users Only] Miniconda only works with bash. If bash is
not your default shell, then you need to activate the bash shell by typing
the following in to your command terminal::
bash
6. Verify that your system is using the correct Python interpreter by typing
the following in to your command terminal::
which python
You should see the path to your miniconda installation. If not, see the
note below.
.. note::
If you have already installed another Python distribution, like Enthought
Canopy, you will need to comment out any PATH entries for that distribution
in your .bashrc or .bash_profile. Otherwise, your shell environment may
pick the wrong Python installation.
If bash is not your default shell type, and the PATH variable has been
set in .bash_profile by the miniconda installer, try executing
"bash -l" instead of the "bash" command in step 5.
Step 4: Set Up the Conda Environment
--------------------------------------
If you are new to the conda package manager, one of the nice features of conda
is that you can create isolated Python environments that prevent package
incompatibilities. This is similar to the *virtualenv* package that some
Python users may be familiar with. However, conda is not compatible with
virtualenv, so only use conda environments when working with conda.
The name of our conda environment for this tutorial is: **tutorial_2019**.
Follow the instructions below to create the tutorial_2019 environment.
1. Open a command terminal if you haven't done so.
2. [Linux and Mac Users Only] The conda package manager only works with bash,
so if bash is not your current shell, type::
bash
3. Add the conda-forge channel to your conda package manager.
Type or copy the command below in to your command terminal. You should
run this command even if you have already done it in the past.
This will ensure that conda-forge is set as the highest priority channel.
::
conda config --add channels conda-forge
.. note::
Conda-forge is a community driven collection of packages that are
continually tested to ensure compatibility. We highly recommend using
conda-forge when working with conda. See https://conda-forge.github.io/
for more details on this excellent project.
4. Create the conda environment for the tutorial.
Type or copy this command in to your command terminal::
conda create -n tutorial_2019 python=3.7 matplotlib cartopy netcdf4 jupyter git ffmpeg wrf-python
Type "y" when prompted. It will take several minutes to install everything.
This command creates an isolated Python environment named *tutorial_2019*, and installs
the python interpreter, matplotlib, cartopy, netcdf4, jupyter, git, ffmpeg, and wrf-python
packages.
.. note::
When the installation completes, your command terminal might post a message similar to:
.. code-block:: none
If this is your first install of dbus, automatically load on login with:
mkdir -p ~/Library/LaunchAgents
cp /path/to/miniconda3/envs/tutorial_test/org.freedesktop.dbus-session.plist ~/Library/LaunchAgents/
launchctl load -w ~/Library/LaunchAgents/org.freedesktop.dbus-session.plist
This is indicating that the dbus package can be set up to automatically load on login. You
can either ignore this message or type in the commands as indicated on your command terminal.
The tutorial should work fine in either case.
5. Activate the conda environment.
To activate the tutorial_2019 Python environment, type the following
in to the command terminal:
For Linux and Mac (using bash)::
conda activate tutorial_2019
For Windows::
activate tutorial_2019
You should see (tutorial_2019) on your command prompt.
To deactivate your conda environment, type the following in to the
command terminal:
For Linux and Mac::
conda deactivate
For Windows::
deactivate tutorial_2019
Step 5: Download the Student Workbook
---------------------------------------
The student workbook for the tutorial is available on GitHub. The tutorial_2019
conda environment includes the git application needed to download the repository.
These instructions download the tutorial in to your home directory. If you want
to place the tutorial in to another directory, we're going to assume you know
how to do this yourself.
To download the student workbook, follow these instructions:
1. Activate the tutorial_2019 conda environment following the instructions
in the previous step (*conda activate tutorial_2019* or
*activate tutorial_2019*).
2. Change your working directory to the home directory by typing the
following command in to the command terminal:
For Linux and Mac::
cd ~
For Windows::
cd %HOMEPATH%
3. Download the git repository for the tutorial by typing the following
in to the command terminal::
git clone --recursive https://github.com/NCAR/wrf_python_tutorial.git
4. There may be additional changes to the tutorial after you have downloaded
it. To pull down the latest changes, type the following in to the
command terminal:
For Linux and Mac::
conda activate tutorial_2019
cd ~/wrf_python_tutorial/wrf_workshop_2019
git pull
For Windows::
activate tutorial_2019
cd %HOMEPATH%\wrf_python_tutorial\wrf_workshop_2019
git pull
.. note::
If you try the "git pull" command and it returns an error indicating
that you have made changes to the workbook, this is probably because
you ran the workbook and it contains the cell output. To fix this,
first do a checkout of the workbook, then do the pull.
.. code-block:: none
git checkout -- .
git pull
Step 6: Verify Your Environment
----------------------------------
Verifying that your environment is correct involves importing a few
packages and checking for errors (you may see some warnings for matplotlib
or xarray, but you can safely ignore these).
1. Activate the tutorial_2019 conda environment if it isn't already active
(see instructions above).
2. Open a python terminal by typing the following in to the command
terminal::
python
3. Now type the following in to the Python interpreter::
>>> import netCDF4
>>> import matplotlib
>>> import xarray
>>> import wrf
4. You can exit the Python interpreter using **CTRL + D**
Step 7: Obtain WRF Output Files
----------------------------------
A link will be provided in an email prior to the tutorial for the WRF-ARW
data files used for the examples. If you did not receive this email, the link
will also be provided at the tutorial itself.
You also have the option of using your own data files for the tutorial by
modifying the first Jupyter Notebook cell to point to your data set.
However, there is no guarantee that every cell in your workbook will work
without some modifications (e.g. cross section lines will be drawn outside of
your domain).
1. The link in the email should take you to a location on an Amazon cloud
drive.
2. If you hover your mouse over the wrf_tutorial_data.zip file, you'll see
an empty check box appear next to the file name. Click this check
box.
3. At the bottom of the screen, you'll see a Download button next to a
cloud icon. Click this button to start the download.
4. The download was most likely placed in to your ~/Downloads folder
[%HOMEPATH%\\Downloads for Windows]. Using your preferred method of choice
for unzipping files, unzip this file in to your home directory. Your data
should now be in ~/wrf_tutorial_data
[%HOMEPATH%\\wrf_tutorial_data for Windows].
5. Verify that you have three WRF output files in that directory.
Getting Help
----------------
If you experience problems during this installation, please send a question
to the :ref:`google-group` support mailing list.
We look forward to seeing you at the tutorial!
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