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SciTools

SciTools is a collaborative effort to produce powerful Python-based open-source tools for Earth scientists

Links:   Privacy Policy  ,  Accessibility Statement

SciTools

Open tools for the analysis and visualisation of Earth science data

SciTools is a collaborative effort to produce powerful Python-based open-source tools for Earth scientists. Initially started at the UK Met Office in 2010, SciTools has grown into a diverse community of partners and collaborators from around the world. SciTools is responsible for the maintenance of a number of key packages such as Iris and Cartopy, and continues to develop new and innovative tools for the Earth scientist's toolkit.

Contents

Packages 📦

Cartopy

cartopy logo

Cartopy is a Python package designed for geospatial data processing in order to produce maps and other geospatial data analyses.

Key features of cartopy are its object oriented projection definitions, and its ability to transform points, lines, vectors, polygons and images between those projections.

You will find Cartopy especially useful for large area / small scale data, where Cartesian assumptions of spherical data traditionally break down.

Links:   GitHub  ,  Documentation  ,  Gallery

Iris

iris logo

The Iris package implements a data model to create a data abstraction layer which isolates analysis and visualisation code from data format specifics. The data model we have chosen is the CF (Climate & Forecast) Data Model. The implementation of this model we have called an Iris Cube.

Iris currently supports read/write access to a range of data formats, including (CF-)NetCDF, GRIB, and PP; fundamental data manipulation operations, such as arithmetic, interpolation, and statistics; and a range of integrated plotting options.

Links:   GitHub  ,  Documentation  ,  Gallery

Other highlights

Package Description & Links
iris-esmf-regrid A collection of structured and unstructured ESMF regridding schemes for Iris.
Links:   GitHub  ,  Documentation  ,  (ESMF)
cf-units Units of measure as required by the Climate and Forecast (CF) Metadata Conventions.
Links:   GitHub  ,  Documentation
nc-time-axis Provides support for a cftime axis in Matplotlib.
Links:   GitHub  ,  Documentation  ,  (cftime)  ,  (Matplotlib)
tephi Tephigram plotting in Python.
Links:   GitHub  ,  Documentation  ,  (tephigrams)
python-stratify Vectorized interpolators for Nd atmospheric and oceanographic data.
Links:   GitHub

See more

More about SciTools ℹ️

Software Licensing 📥

The rules/agreements for using the software. All SciTools software is distributed under the terms of the BSD-3-Clause licence.

Contributor Licence Agreement (CLA) 📝

The rules/agreements for contributing to the software. Contributions to any SciTools repository are subject to the SciTools Contributor Licence Agreement.

Development ✏️

The Met Office remains the driving force behind SciTools and most of our packages; however, all the packages are fundamentally developed in the open. The direction of SciTools packages is decided by the community of developers; who are always eager for more people from different areas to contribute towards Iris, Cartopy and the wider SciTools ecosystem. All types of contribution are encouraged:

  • 1 💬 : Participating in conversations on existing repository discussions / issues / pull requests
  • 2 🔔 : Starting new repository discussions / issues
  • 3 💡 : Proposing changes via repository pull requests
  • 4 ✏️ : Developing your own software that uses or augments SciTools software package(s)

Every SciTools repository has a team of maintainers - developers with GitHub permissions to make changes to the codebase (typically via approving and merging pull requests). Maintainers do their best to respond to discussions / issues / pull requests and generally keep the repositories healthy. Many of the SciTools repositories are discussed by maintainers at regular Peloton meetings.

Contact 📞

Please raise a discussion / issue / pull request on the appropriate SciTools repository. If your contact is not linked to a specific repository then you can use the SciTools/.github repository. The conversation can also continue in private, feel free to request this. While we prefer talking on GitHub, you can also email scitools.pub@gmail.com if necessary.

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  1. iris iris Public

    A powerful, format-agnostic, and community-driven Python package for analysing and visualising Earth science data

    Python 712 302

  2. cartopy cartopy Public

    Cartopy - a cartographic python library with matplotlib support

    Python 1.6k 394

  3. cf-units cf-units Public

    Units of measure as required by the Climate and Forecast (CF) Metadata Conventions

    Python 77 47

  4. nc-time-axis nc-time-axis Public

    Provides support for a cftime axis in matplotlib

    Python 59 36

  5. iris-grib iris-grib Public

    GRIB interface for Iris.

    Python 27 44

Repositories

Showing 10 of 39 repositories
  • cartopy Public

    Cartopy - a cartographic python library with matplotlib support

    SciTools/cartopy’s past year of commit activity
    Python 1,597 BSD-3-Clause 394 294 43 Updated Apr 6, 2026
  • python-stratify Public

    Vectorized interpolators for Nd atmospheric and oceanographic data

    SciTools/python-stratify’s past year of commit activity
    Jupyter Notebook 31 BSD-3-Clause 20 8 5 Updated Apr 6, 2026
  • iris Public

    A powerful, format-agnostic, and community-driven Python package for analysing and visualising Earth science data

    SciTools/iris’s past year of commit activity
    Python 712 BSD-3-Clause 302 231 (13 issues need help) 19 Updated Apr 6, 2026
  • workflows Public

    Reusable workflows to be called from other SciTools repositories.

    SciTools/workflows’s past year of commit activity
    2 BSD-3-Clause 6 2 1 Updated Apr 6, 2026
  • test-iris-imagehash Public

    Perceptual image hash resource for SciTools iris testing

    SciTools/test-iris-imagehash’s past year of commit activity
    Python 3 BSD-3-Clause 13 1 1 Updated Apr 6, 2026
  • mo_pack Public

    Python wrapper to libmo_unpack

    SciTools/mo_pack’s past year of commit activity
    Python 2 BSD-3-Clause 13 3 3 Updated Apr 6, 2026
  • tephi Public

    Tephigram plotting in Python

    SciTools/tephi’s past year of commit activity
    Jupyter Notebook 23 BSD-3-Clause 32 7 2 Updated Apr 6, 2026
  • nc-time-axis Public

    Provides support for a cftime axis in matplotlib

    SciTools/nc-time-axis’s past year of commit activity
    Python 59 BSD-3-Clause 36 13 5 Updated Apr 6, 2026
  • iris-grib Public

    GRIB interface for Iris.

    SciTools/iris-grib’s past year of commit activity
    Python 27 BSD-3-Clause 44 49 5 Updated Apr 6, 2026
  • iris-esmf-regrid Public

    A collection of structured and unstructured ESMF regridding schemes for Iris.

    SciTools/iris-esmf-regrid’s past year of commit activity
    Python 20 BSD-3-Clause 19 17 3 Updated Apr 6, 2026

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