A functional based python module for processing, analysis and visualization of climate model output (pyClimat)

PyClimat is a functional-based python module that can be used to post-process climate simulation output from models such as ECHAM5. The module has the functionality to read high-dimensional meta datasets in NetCDF format using the routines in the “Climat_data.py”. The module also has additional utilities that are normally used in climate data analysis. Specifically, the routines in the “Climat_analysis.py” are capable of climate variable extraction and calculation of derivatives (eg. precipitation weighted 𝛿18Op), Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF), and Principal Component Analysis (statistical techniques for dimension reduction). The module also features some functions that calculate the long-term seasonal and annual means and anomalies, and perform correlation analysis and statistical significance testing such as the student-t-test. Lastly, many visualization functions are implemented in the “Climat_plots.py”. The module was used in the study of the effects of the topographic changes of the  European Alps on regional climate and the isotopic composition of precipitation [Boateng et al.]. The Alps folder in the example directory includes all the scripts used to generate all the figures in that study. To adapt to this module, the following dependencies must be installed in your environment: Xarray, Matplotlib, NumPy, Pandas, SciPy, and Cartopy.