Visualisation

Basemap

The matplotlib basemap toolkit is a library for plotting 2D data on maps in Python.

   1 from pylab import *
   2 from mpl_toolkits.basemap import Basemap
   3 
   4 m = Basemap(projection='ortho',lon_0=10.0,lat_0=45.0,resolution='l')
   5 m.bluemarble()
   6 
   7 lon,lat=10.0,53.5 # Hamburg
   8 
   9 x,y=m(lon,lat)
  10 m.plot(x,y,'r.')
  11     
  12 show()
  13 savefig('Map1.png',dpi=75)

Set the correct path for using Basemap

module load R/2.7.0
module load Python/2.6.2

GMT

GMT is an open source collection of ~60 tools for manipulating geographic and Cartesian data sets (including filtering, trend fitting, gridding, projecting, etc.) and producing publication quality scientific plots.

In particular useful are the gridding routines which can be used for irregular sampled oceanographic as well as for satellite data.

Google Earth

Documentation:

http://code.google.com/apis/kml/documentation/

Chlorophyll data:

http://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi/climatologies.pl

Download png and make black transparent

convert -transparent black A20020012007273.L3m_CU_CHLO_4.png A20020012007273.L3m_CU_CHLO_4_trans.png

Create .kml file

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<kml xmlns="http://earth.google.com/kml/2.1"><Document><name>Chlorophyll Climatology</name>
  <Folder>
<Snippet maxLines="0"/>
<name>MODIS</name>
<ScreenOverlay>
  <name>UHH Logo</name>
  <color>ffffffff</color>
  <visibility>1</visibility>
  <Icon>
    <href>http://www.ifm.uni-hamburg.de/logo_uhh_neu.gif</href>
  </Icon>
      <overlayXY x="0" y="1" xunits="fraction" yunits="fraction"/>
      <screenXY x="5" y="5" xunits="pixels" yunits="insetPixels"/>
      <size x="90" y="90" xunits="pixel" yunits="pixel"/>
</ScreenOverlay>
<LookAt>
        <longitude>8</longitude>
        <latitude>53</latitude>
         <altitude>2000000</altitude>       
  <heading>0</heading>          
</LookAt>
<Folder> <Snippet maxLines="0"/>
<name>Chlorophyll</name><GroundOverlay> <name>2002-2007</name>
<visibility>1</visibility><color>ffffffff</color>
<Icon><href>A20020012007273.L3m_CU_CHLO_4_trans.png</href></Icon>
<LatLonBox><north>90</north><south>-90</south><east>180</east><west>-180</west></LatLonBox>
</GroundOverlay></Folder></Folder></Document></kml>