Getting Started¶

Before You Install¶

dapper is designed to work with Google Earth Engine (GEE). To use the full workflow (including the tutorial notebooks), you will need:

A free GEE account and a GEE project
The ability to run ee.Authenticate() and ee.Initialize(...) from Python

If you do not already have a GEE account, you can register here: Google Earth Engine registration

Some parts of dapper can be used without GEE, but most end-to-end tutorials assume that GEE authentication is working.

Installation¶

dapper is in active development.

If you want the latest features and the most up-to-date tutorials, a live (editable) install is recommended.
If you want a stable snapshot that is easy to pin for reproducibility, install from PyPI.

PyPI install (stable snapshot)¶

This is the fastest way to install dapper without cloning the repo.

Step 1

Create and activate a clean environment (conda recommended):

conda create -n dapper python=3.12
conda activate dapper

Step 2

Install from PyPI:

pip install dapper-elm

Step 3

Quick import test:

python -c "import dapper; from dapper.met.adapters import era5; print('dapper import OK')"

Live install (recommended)¶

A live install is the preferred setup if you expect to pull updates frequently while dapper evolves.

Step 1

Clone the repository to your local machine. If you’re not comfortable with command-line git, GitHub Desktop works fine.

Step 2

Create the conda environment from environment.yml (recommended, since it tracks the dev dependencies used in the tutorials):

cd /path/to/cloned/dapper
conda env create -f environment.yml
conda activate dapper

Step 3

Perform a live (editable) install:

pip install -e .

Step 4

Quick import test:

python -c "import dapper; from dapper.met.adapters import era5; print('dapper live install OK')"

Step 5

Keeping your live install up to date (typical workflow):

cd /path/to/cloned/dapper
git pull
# no reinstall needed; your environment is using the repo checkout

Google Earth Engine authentication¶

If you haven’t used the GEE API before, you’ll need to authenticate. The first time you run this, it should open a browser to grant access to your GEE account.

conda activate dapper
ipython
import ee
ee.Authenticate()
ee.Initialize(project="ee-yourprojectname")  # replace with your actual GEE project name

You should not need to run ee.Authenticate() again (credentials are cached locally). You will, however, need to run ee.Initialize(project="...") in each fresh Python session.