| 
March
2005
Python
interface to NCL’s graphics library now available
The NCAR Command Language (NCL), developed by SCD in 1995,
is an important programming language for the analysis and
visualization of scientific data. Now more researchers will
be able to access its publication-quality graphics.
Fred Clare and Mary Haley of SCD’s Visualization and
Enabling Technologies Section have created a Python interface
to NCL’s visualization library. Python, a mainstream
programming language often compared with Perl, TCL (Tool
Command Language), and Java, has a large and growing base
of scientific users. The new interface, PyNGL (pronounced “pingle”),
is generating an enthusiastic response among atmospheric
researchers who use Python for programming but want the superior
visualization capabilities of NCL.
Fred Clare and Mary Haley |
“A number of people in the Python community had expressed
regret that there were no high-quality 2D graphics available
in that language,” says Fred. “Meanwhile, NCL
creates some of the best 2D scientific visualizations in
the world, and we wanted to make it available to a wider
audience. So we saw this as a great opportunity.”
PyNGL allows Python users to access NCL graphics from a Python
script without having to learn NCL. “By creating this
module to a popular language like Python,” says Mary, “we’re
opening ourselves to a whole new level of opportunities to
collaborate with universities and other research centers.”
Mary expects PyNGL to bring increased visibility to NCL’s
visualization functionality, with the potential for hundreds
of new users. Indeed, a professor of geophysical sciences
at the University of Chicago is already planning to use PyNGL
to teach a Python-based computational course.
Early last year, Fred and Mary began working with a test
group to fine-tune the alpha version of PyNGL. In September
they introduced the beta release at the Scientific Python
(SciPy) user conference at the California Institute of Technology
in Pasadena, where one attendee called it “the best
thing I took away from SciPy 2004.”
Users can download a free beta version of PyNGL off the Web.
Fred and Mary hope next to create Python interfaces to NCL’s
data processing libraries, and Dave Brown, the lead developer
of NCL, has already begun work on a Python interface to NCL’s
powerful file access capabilities. • Lynda
Lester
On the Web
Getting started using PyNGL
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Questions
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