nexoclom 3.2.4

Neutral Exosphere and Cloud Model

# NEXOCLOM: Neutral Exosphere and Cloud Model
## Dr. Mathew Burger, Space Telescope Science Institute
![STScI](Stsci_logo.png)

### Packages created by Matthew Burger that need to be installed:
1. nexoclom
2. MESSENGERuvvs

------------------

### Documentation

https://nexoclom.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ (Reasonably complete and up to date).
[This part about writing inputfiles](https://nexoclom.readthedocs.io/en/latest/nexoclom/inputfiles.html) is particularly useful.

### Installation process

1. Install Anaconda Python (version >= 3.8):
   1. Download the installer from:
           https://www.anaconda.com/distribution/
   2. double-click the installer to install. This installs anaconda python in
           $HOME/anaconda3 and does not need sysadmin privileges.
   3. Verify it works: Open a new terminal window and start `ipython`. You should
see something like this:
```
(base) [sunra m🍔 /~/]$ ipython
Python 3.8.8 (default, Apr 13 2021, 12:59:45) 
Type 'copyright', 'credits' or 'license' for more information
IPython 7.32.0 -- An enhanced Interactive Python. Type '?' for help.

In [1]: 
```
* NOTE: I think Anaconda python likes the bash shell, but there
are probably ways around that. 

2. Create a new python environment with the model.
   1. Download the file [nexoclom_environment.yml](https://github.com/mburger-stsci/nexoclom/blob/master/nexoclom_environment.yml)
   2. In a text editor, update the last four lines
      ```
      prefix: /user/mburger/anaconda3/envs/nexoclom/bin/python
      variables:
        PGDATA: /user/mburger/.postgres/main
        NEXOCLOMCONFIG : /user/mburger/.nexoclom
      ```
      For prefix, you want `$HOME/anaconda3/...`, but `$HOME` needs to be the
      specific path.

   4. Create the envirnoment:
      ```
      (base) [sunra m🍔 /~/]$ conda env create -f nexoclom_environment.yml
      ```
   5. To use this environment run:
      ```
      (base) [sunra m🍔 /~/]$ conda activate nexoclom
      WARNING: overwriting environment variables set in the machine
      overwriting variable PGDATA
      ```
      Activating nexoclom sets the environment variables `PGDATA` and `
      `
      None of this will work if the correct environment is not active. You will 
know it's active because your prompt will change and `python` will point to a 
different executable:
      ```
      (nexoclom) [sunra m🍔 /~/]$ which python
      /Users/mburger/anaconda/envs/nexoclom/bin/python
      ```

   6. To turn it off run:
      ```
      (nexoclom) [sunra m🍔 /~/]$ conda deactivate
      ```

3. Create the .nexoclom file
   1. In your home directory create a file called `.nexoclom` with the
       following lines:
        ```
        savepath = <fullpath>/modeloutputs
        datapath = <fullpath>/ModelData
        database = thesolarsystemmb
        mesdatapath = <fullpath>/UVVSData
        mesdatabase = messengeruvvsdb
        ```

`<fullpath>` does not need to be the same in all lines, but the directories all
need to be valid.

4. Initialize the postgres server if necessary:
   1. In your `.bashrc` or `.bash_profile` file (the file that runs when you
       start a terminal window) add the line:
      ```  
      export PGDATA=/Users/mburger/.postgres/main
      ```
       (This step technically isn't needed because the environment variable gets
       set when you activate the environment).
   2. Execute the following commands
      ```
      (nexoclom) [sunra m🍔 /~/]$ initdb -D $PGDATA
      (nexoclom) [sunra m🍔 /~/]$ pg_ctl -l $PGDATA/logfile start
      (nexoclom) [sunra m🍔 /~/]$ createdb <username>
      (nexoclom) [sunra m🍔 /~/]$ createdb thesolarsystemmb
      (nexoclom) [sunra m🍔 /~/]$ createdb messengeruvvsdb
      ```
      * Find `<username>` with 
     
        ```(nexoclom) [sunra m🍔 /~/]$ echo $USER```
      * This needs to match database in the `.nexoclom` file
      * This needs to match mesdatabase in the `.nexoclom` file

5. Configure the MESSENGER UVVS database if you will be making comparisons to 
    MASCS/UVVS data. Unfortunately, the data products being used here are not 
    publicly available (I don't own this data reduction). UVVS data is available 
    from the [Planetary Data System](https://atmos.nmsu.edu/data_and_services/atmospheres_data/MESSENGER/messenger.html), but it would
    take some work to get it integrated into the database. We could probably work
    something out if you want to compare with the data.

    1. Download the MESSENGERdata package if you're authorized (email 
    [Matthew Burger](mailto:[e-mail]))
    2. Put the file in the `mesdatapath` directory and untar it.
        ```
        (nexoclom) [sunra m🍔 /~/]$ tar -xvzf Level1.tar.gz
       ```
    3. Then run:
        ```
        (nexoclom) [sunra m🍔 /~/]$ ipython
        Python 3.8.13 | packaged by conda-forge | (default, Mar 25 2022, 06:06:49)
        Type 'copyright', 'credits' or 'license' for more information
        IPython 8.2.0 -- An enhanced Interactive Python. Type '?' for help.

        In [1]: from MESSENGERuvvs import initialize_MESSENGERdata

        In [2]: initialize_MESSENGERdata()
        ```

    This will take a while to run (hours probably).

6. To install updates, run:
    ```
    (nexoclom) [sunra m🍔 /~/]$ pip install --upgrade nexoclom
    (nexoclom) [sunra m🍔 /~/]$ pip install --upgrade MESSENGERuvvs
    ```
   or to update everything:
   ```
   (nexoclom) [sunra m🍔 /~/]$ conda env update -f nexoclom_environment.yml
   ```

7. There are some test files at https://github.com/mburger-stsci/nexoclom/tree/master/test_files/. Download them to any 
  working directory. Edit the `model_testing.py` so that *inputfile* points to 
  directory with the `Ca.isotropic.flat.input`. Then do:
   ```
   (nexoclom) [sunra m🍔 /~/]$ python model_testing.py
   ```
   This should produce something that looks like https://github.com/mburger-stsci/nexoclom/tree/master/test_files/Ca_Oribt3576_nexoclom.html.

### Contributing

We love contributions! nexoclom is open source,
built on open source, and we'd love to have you hang out in our community.

**Imposter syndrome disclaimer**: We want your help. No, really.

There may be a little voice inside your head that is telling you that you're not
ready to be an open source contributor; that your skills aren't nearly good
enough to contribute. What could you possibly offer a project like this one?

We assure you - the little voice in your head is wrong. If you can write code at
all, you can contribute code to open source. Contributing to open source
projects is a fantastic way to advance one's coding skills. Writing perfect code
isn't the measure of a good developer (that would disqualify all of us!); it's
trying to create something, making mistakes, and learning from those
mistakes. That's how we all improve, and we are happy to help others learn.

Being an open source contributor doesn't just mean writing code, either. You can
help out by writing documentation, tests, or even giving feedback about the
project (and yes - that includes giving feedback about the contribution
process). Some of these contributions may be the most valuable to the project as
a whole, because you're coming to the project with fresh eyes, so you can see
the errors and assumptions that seasoned contributors have glossed over.

Note: This disclaimer was originally written by
[Adrienne Lowe](https://github.com/adriennefriend) for a
[PyCon talk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Uj746j9Heo), and was adapted by
nexoclom based on its use in the README file for the
[MetPy project](https://github.com/Unidata/MetPy>).