Why earthkit-plots?

earthkit-plots is a high-level Python library for producing publication-quality scientific graphics with minimal code. Built on matplotlib, cartopy, xarray, and the broader earthkit ecosystem, it enriches these tools with domain-specific knowledge so you can focus on your data rather than plot configuration.

Key features:

• Concise API - generate complex visualisations in just a few lines.

• Automatic data extraction - reads GRIB, netCDF, and zarr data; works with xarray DataArrays and NumPy arrays; handles geographic coordinates, grids, and CRS automatically.

• Intelligent formatting - titles, labels, and colour scales adapt based on detected metadata, variables, and units.

• Style libraries - swap styles to match your organisation, project, or preferences.

• Complex grids out of the box - HEALPix, reduced Gaussian, and more with no extra legwork.

Quick start

earthkit-plots provides a high level api to quickly visualise data.

(
    ekp.geo.plot(era5_2t, domain="Europe", units="celsius")
    .title("ERA5 monthly averaged {variable_name} over {domain} - {time:%B %Y}")
    .borders()
    .gridlines()
    .show()
)