The Community Intercomparison Suite (CIS) is an open source command-line tool for easy collocation, visualization, analysis, and comparison of diverse gridded and ungridded datasets used in earth sciences. This workshop is intended to help potential users learn more about CIS, and how to use it effectively in their day-to-day work.

The morning of the workshop will provide an opportunity for new users to find out more about CIS, and gain some hands-on experience using it with the help of our expert tutors. The (optional) afternoon session covers more advanced topics such as using the Python API, and developing CIS plugins. This session assumes at least a basic level of Python knowledge.

A draft agenda is currently available here.

The afternoon session will also provide users with the opportunity to develop their own plugins for CIS to enable reading data types which are not currently supported. If you have some data which you would like CIS to read then this is a great opportunity to start developing a plugin to read it. Just be sure to bring some example data with you, and let the organizers know so that we can discuss any special requirements. If you don't have your own ideas for plugins don't worry - we'll have plenty of examples!

This workshop is free of charge and offered on a first-come first-serve basis.

Please note that the hands-on elements to the workshop will require you to have CIS installed on your laptop. This is easily done using conda (see the install instructions here for more details) but it is recommended you do this before the workshop.

FAQs

What are my transport/parking options getting to the event?

Oxford is centrally located in the UK within a 90-minute road journey of airports at Heathrow, Gatwick and Birmingham International. The M40 and A34 ensure easy road access and there are regular coach and rail connections with the rest of the country.

By road

There are park-and-ride car parks on all the major approaches to the outskirts of Oxford. Alternatively, follow the signs for the city centre where you will find several car parks close to the centre of Oxford. Note though that parking spaces are limited and traffic can be very busy at peak times.

By train

There are around two trains an hour to Oxford from London Paddington and the journey takes one hour. There is an hourly service from Manchester (three hours) and Birmingham (one hour) and regular services linking the south coast and the north east (Edinburgh six hours 30 minutes).

By air

Excellent and frequent coach services link Oxford with airports at Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Birmingham International and Luton. The service to Heathrow runs every 30 minutes and to Gatwick every hour. For more information visit www.oxfordbus.co.uk

By bus

Excellent coach services to and from London are provided by the X90 and Oxford Tube. They run throughout the day and night and every10-15 minutes during the day. Journey times are typically one hour and 40 minutes, depending on traffic.

What accomodation is available?

There are many hotels and B&Bs located within walking distance of the event. Participants may also be interested in staying in one of the Oxford colleges, whose rooms can be booked using this external site: http://www.universityrooms.com/en/city/oxford/home