🎈 SounderPy

SounderPy is an open-source atmospheric science Python package for vertical profile analysis. This tool is designed to get data, ‘clean it up’ for simple use, and plot the data on advanced-sounding plots. SounderPy was developed with the goal in mind to keep the code simple and efficient for users of all experience levels and for reliability in all use cases.

SounderPy is supported for Python >= 3.9. Examples of SounderPy use are available on the 📝 Usage Examples page

Why SounderPy?

• Sometimes data is tough to find, and often times it’s even tougher to get it in the format you like. SounderPy gets you this data!

• The code needed for loading and parsing meteorological data, especially from models, can be large and messy. SounderPy keeps it hidden away in a PyPi package – just import and call sounderPy functions to keep your code clean!

• SounderPy functions are designed to be simple and quick making for reliable use in research, forecast/analysis operations, and simply for fun!

What exactly can SounderPy do?

• Retrieves vertical profile data

• ‘Cleans up’ the data for analysis

• Plots the data on advanced but easy to read sounding and hodograph plots.

  • See what kind of plots SounderPy can create here

What data can SounderPy work with?

DATA	FUNCTION	TYPE	TIME RANGE
ECMWF CDS ERA5 reanalysis*	get_model_data()	Reanalysis	1940-present
UNIDATA THREDDS TDS RAP	get_model_data()	Reanalysis	2005-present
UNIDATA THREDDS TDS RUC	get_model_data()	Reanalysis	2005-2020
UNIDATA THREDDS NCEP-FNL	get_model_data()	Reanalysis	2005-2020
ISU’s BUFKIT archive	get_bufkit_data()	Model Forecast	2011-present
PSU’s BUFKIT feed	get_bufkit_data()	Model Forecast	Most recent runs
UNIDATA THREDDS TDS RAP	get_model_data()	Model Analysis	Most recent run
OU ACARS Archive	acars_data()	Observations	2019-present
The Unv. of WY RAOB Archive	get_obs_data()	Observations	1973-present
IGRAv2 Observation Archive	get_obs_data()	Observations	1905-present

☕ SounderPy is a open-source package developed on my own time. Would you like to support continued SounderPy development? Consider “Buying me a coffee”! ☕

Directory

General:

• 📖 About
  • SounderPy: A sounding visualization tool for severe-weather analysis and forecasting
  • Installation
  • Sample Basic Use
  • Authors and Contributors
  • Citing SounderPy
  • References
  • About the Author
  • Useful Links
• ❓ Troubleshooting
  • Funky Plot Scaling
    • The Fix: saving the plot to a file
  • Goofy ACARS Profiles
  • ERA5 data access not working
  • RAP data won’t load
  • SounderPy can’t find a RAOB sounding you know exists

API Reference:

• 🌐 Tools for Getting Data
  • Model Reanalysis Data | RAP, ERA5, NCEP
    • spy.get_model_data()
    • Model key names
    • Dataset key names
    • Latitude-Longitude pairs
  • Model Forecast Data | BUFKIT
    • spy.get_bufkit_data()
    • Available BUFKIT Sites:
    • Available Models:
    • Model key names
  • Observed Data | RAOB & IGRAv2
    • spy.get_obs_data()
    • Available RAOB Sites:
  • Observed Data | ACARS Aircraft Obs
    • acars_data
      • acars_data..list_profiles()
      • acars_data..get_profile()
    • ACARS Data Retrieval Example
  • What does the data look like?
• ✏️ Custom Data Sources
  • Built-in Custom Data Ingestion Tools
    • Ingesting WRF Output Data
      • spy.make_wrf_profile()
    • Ingesting CM1 input_sounding Data
      • spy.make_cm1_profile()
  • Ingesting your own data into SounderPy
    • Understanding the SounderPy data format
    • Building a custom clean_data dictionary
• 📈 Tools for Plotting Data
  • Building Soundings
    • spy.build_sounding()
    • Example
  • Building Hodographs
    • spy.build_hodograph()
    • Example
  • Building Composite Soundings
    • spy.build_composite()
    • Examples
  • Building VAD Hodographs
    • spy.build_vad_hodograph()
    • Examples
  • Surface Modification Logic
    • The modify_sfc dict
  • Storm Motion Logic
    • Storm Motion Keys
    • Custom Storm Motions
  • Parcel Logic
    • How to use this feature
    • Parcel Keys
  • About These Plots
• 🛠️ Helper Tools
  • Printing data to the console
    • spy.print_variables()
  • Returning a dictionary of profile parameters
    • sounding_params
      • sounding_params..calc()
  • Finding site lat/lon pairs
    • spy.get_latlon()
  • Saving data to a file
    • spy.to_file()
  • Interpolating a vertical profile
    • spy.interp_data()
  • Finding a ‘nearest’ value
    • spy.find_nearest()

Tutorials:

• 👨‍🍳Beginner’s SounderPy Cookbook
  • A collection of simple SounderPy recipies for accessing and analyzing vertical profile data.
    • Before we get started…
      • Definitions
      • Additional Resources
      • Pre-requisites
      • What is SounderPy?
    • Set Up
    • RECIPE 1: SounderPy’s integrated data sources & how to load them
      • Objectives
      • Integrated Data Sources
      • Loading data
      • Load Observation Data
      • Load Reanalysis Data
      • Load BUFKIT forecast model data
      • Investigate the SounderPy ‘clean_data’ dictionary
    • RECIPE 2: Plotting soundings
      • Objectives
      • Building Soundings with SounderPy
      • Build a plot, with default settings, of our observations data
      • Customizing sounding figures
      • Setting #1: special_parcels
      • Build a sounding figure with special_parcels='simple' using our reanalysis data object
      • Setting #2: map_zoom
      • Build a sounding figure with a zoomed-out map using our BUFKIT forecast data object
      • Setting #3: color_blind
      • Setting #4: dark_mode
      • Build a dark-mode sounding with colorblind settings on using our observations again
    • RECIPE 3: Plotting hodographs
      • Objectives
      • Build a hodograph plot using our reanalysis data
      • Hodograph settings: dark_mode & sr_hodo
      • Build a storm-relative dark-mode hodograph figure using our BUFKIT forecast data
    • RECIPE 4: Plotting sounding composites
      • Objectives
      • Build a dark mode composite sounding with custom colors to compare our observation data, reanalysis model data, and forecast model data, all valid for the same time & location
  • Congrats! You finished this Beginners SounderPy Cookbook!
• 📊 Plot Gallery
  • Soundings
  • Composite Soundings
  • Hodographs
• 📝 Usage Examples

• Index