Installing Python and Jupyter - Ocean Remote Sensing

Download Miniconda¶

There are many ways to install python for use on your machine. One of the most popular ways is to use Anaconda - a distribution of Python designed for data science. Anaconda contains many programs that may not be applicable to your application. Miniconda, on the other hand, is a paired-down version of Anaconda that allows you to install new modules as you need them. As a result, it takes up far less storage on your machine. Miniconda will include Python (the programming language) and conda (the package manager).

To download Miniconda, navigate to https://docs.conda.io/en/latest/miniconda.html and choose a Conda Installer that pertains to your system. For Windows machines, the majority of machines are 64-bit. For MacOS, choose the pkg file which pertains to your chip (see HERE).

Set up a conda environment¶

After you have downloaded miniconda, set up a conda environment. Begin by opening up a terminal of your choice. On Windows, you can open the “Anaconda Prompt” application by searching for it in the start menu. On Mac, you can open a standard Terminal in the Applications/Utilities directory.

With your terminal open, create a conda environment called ms274 with Python version 3.12 using the following command:

conda create --name ms274 python=3.12

By default, conda will automatically activate a “base” environment on your machine. To disable this behavior, you may want to run the following:

conda config --set auto_activate_base false

Now, activate your environment as follows:

conda activate ms274

Every time you use your environment, you will need to activate it from the command line.

Next, download the pertinent modules required for this course:

conda install numpy
conda install matplotlib
conda install pandas
conda install netcdf4
conda install scipy
conda install h5py
conda install shapefile
conda install jupyter
conda install jupyterlab
conda install git

In addition, we’ll install one more package:

pip install podaac-data-subscriber

Finally, configure your environment to use in a jupyter notebook.

On MacOS, use:

python3 -m ipykernel install --user --name=ms274

On Windows, use:

python -m ipykernel install --user --name=ms274