An Interactive Demonstration of MetPy's Declarative Language: Moving from GEMPAK to MetPy as the Primary Analysis and Visualization Tool of Atmospheric Scientists

This demonstration will highlight the new declarative syntax, available through the Python MetPy library, that will allow individuals to see how it could be used to replace GEMPAK (and other computing solutions) for education and research purposes. The declarative syntax is aimed at easing the transition of long-time GEMPAK users to the Python ecosystem and all the benefits it has to offer. By offering this lower hurdle transition, educators and researchers will not have to initially know all of the intricacies of many Python libraries in order to achieve easy and high quality, common data analyses and visualizations. Once comfort is gained through the simplified interface, exploration and use of the wide-ranging capabilities of the Scientific Python ecosystem will not feel as unattainable. This demonstration will include live coding examples using the MetPy declarative syntax and where to find many completed examples on the Unidata Python Training site.