plasticparcels

plasticparcels is a python package for simulating the transport and dispersion of plastics in the ocean.

The tool is based on the Parcels computational Lagrangian ocean analysis framework (@Lange2017 and @Delandmeter2019), providing a modular and customisable collection of methods, notebooks, and tutorials for advecting virtual plastic particles with a wide range of physical properties. A peer reviewed paper describing plasticparcels can be found here: .

Installation

plasticparcels can be installed using conda from the conda-forge channel with the following command:

conda install conda-forge::plasticparcels

Required data

plasticparcels has been developed for use with data from the Copernicus Marine Service, and requires the following data to run:

• Hydrodynamic model data: MOI GLO12 (psy4v3r1)
• Biogeochemical model data: MOI BIO4 (biomer4v2r1)
• Wave data: ECMWF ERA5 Wave (specifically, the variables mean_wave_period, peak_wave_period, u_component_stokes_drift, and v_component_stokes_drift.)
• Wind data: ECMWF ERA5 Wind (specifically, the variables 10m_u_component_of_wind and 10m_v_component_of_wind)

For downloading the wind and wave data, we recommend using the CDS API.

To run most of the examples, you will need to update the data directories in the relevant settings .json file.

Just like the parcels framework, plasticparcels can be adapted to use other hydrodynamic, biogeochemical, wave, and atmospheric models. If you require assistance, please contact us through the plasticparcels discussions page.

Community contributions and support

Contributing code

We welcome contributions to plasticparcels, especially example workbooks and analyses for our public examples page. To contribute to the project, please submit a pull request.

Requesting features and reporting issues/bugs

If you want to request a new feature, or if you find an issue or bug in the code, please open an issue in the plasticparcels issue tracker.

Seeking support?

If you would like support using plasticparcels, or are have any questions about your plasticparcels simulations, please start a discussion in the plasticparcels discussion page.

Further information

For more information and documentation, see the plasticparcels documentation.