Installing pyDARN
For most users, pyDARN can be installed simply by:
pip3 install pydarn
If already installed, pyDARN can be upgraded by:
pip3 install --upgrade pydarn
Installing in virtual environments is recommended, see below for details.
Prerequisites
pyDARN requires python 3.7 or later and matplotlib 3.3.4 or later.
Note
Python 3.6 is commonly the default version included on many operating systems, you may need to install a newer version and specify that version when running python programs and installing libraries.
Depending on your operating system or distribution, the following package installers, development environments or data parsers are required:
Ubuntu | OpenSuse | Fedora | OSX | Windows |
---|---|---|---|---|
libyaml-dev | python3-PyYAML | libyaml-devel | Xcode/pip | pip |
You can check your python version using
$ python --version
or
$ python3 --version
Dependencies
On installation, pyDARN will download the following dependencies:
Note
If you wish to plot coastlines or geographic projections you will need to install cartopy>=0.19 separately, see below.
Cartopy
Cartopy is a Python package designed for geospatial data processing in order to produce maps and other geospatial data analyses. This library is used when invoking a projection system needing overlapped coastline maps in Fan, Grid and Map plots.
For installing cartopy please follow the installation instructions. For ubuntu here is good installation walkthrough.
Note
pyDARN requires cartopy version 0.19 or higher. cartopy can be a challenging package to install, please provide any information on troubleshooting or solutions in an issue on the pyDARN github page.
Virtual Environments
It is recommended to install pyDARN in one of the suggested virtual environments if you have multiple python versions on your computer, or do not want to affect the main system's python libraries.
The following virtual environments have been tested by pyDARN developers:
pip Virtual Environment
Instructions can be found here virtual environment
Option 1:
$ python3 -m pip install --user virtualenv
(Install virtual environment package)$ python3 -m virtualenv <environment name>
(Make your virtual environment)$ source <environment name>/bin/activate
(Activate the virtual environment)$ pip3 install pydarn
(Install pyDARN)
Note
In newer python version, virtualenv
is now venv
.
Anaconda Virtual Environment
Instructions can be found here conda environment and installing anaconda
$ conda create -n yourenvname python=3.7 anaconda
$ conda activate yourenvname
$ pip install pydarn
Adding the environment to PyCharm
To set the project interpreter to the anaconda environment:
- File -> Settings -> Project Folder -> Project Interpreter
- Click the project Interpreter drop down list and click on show all.
- If you don't see the environment you wish to use click the plus sign on the right side bar named "Add"
- Select "Conda Environment" on the left side menu.
- Click "Existing Environment" and give the interpreter field the path to your environment's python.exe and apply.
Installing for Development or Testing
pyDARN's default github branch is develop
for quicker and easer development.
git clone https://github.com/SuperDARN/pydarn.git
To install a specific branch to develop or test:
cd pydarn
git checkout branch_name
pip3 install .
You can alternatively install a specific branch using the following installation, this is most useful for testing new branches:
pip3 install git+https://github.com/superdarn/pydarn@branch_name
Please read pyDARN Workflow documentation to further understand how to develop in pyDARN.
Troubleshooting
Some known issues with solutions are:
pip3 installation with Ubuntu 20.4/python 3.8.4
Issue: pip3 install --user git+https://github.com/superdarn/pydarn@develop
not working
Solution:
- check git is installed
apt install git
(for ubuntu) - Check pip version
pip --version
- with newer distros of Linux/Virtual machinespip
may point to pyhon3 and you will not need pip3. - Alternative virtual environment steps for getting python 3.8 working
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install python3-virtualenv python3-pip
$ cd ~/
$ mkdir venvs
$ virtualenv -p python3.8 ~/venvs/py38
$ echo "source $HOME/venvs/py38/bin/activate" >> ~/.bashrc
Then open a new terminal and you should see (pyy38)
in the prompt.
More details on issue #37
aacgmv2 won't install
Issue: unable to execute 'gcc': No such file or directory error: command 'gcc' failed with exit status 1
Solution:
- Ensure
gcc
is installed if not install it - Ensure you install
python3-dev
(Ubuntu) orpython3-devel
for RPM OS Linux operating systems.
General Plotting Errors
Solution:
- check matplotlib version, if lower than 3.3.4 then upgrade matplotlib equal or higher version.
pip install -U matplotlib
Note
If you find any problems/solutions, please make a github issue so the community can help you or add it to the documentation!