Basemap mpl tool not listed as a dependency

[kuanb]

Basemap is an extension of Matplotlib but not included/distributed with the main library (see: http://matplotlib.org/mpl_toolkits/index.html?highlight=basemap#basemap).

Introduced in PR #38, the new dependency requirement appears to have been added/listed only to the Travis file.

Two suggestions:

1. Add documentation (specifically in the Installation doc), indicating users need to install this.
2. Modify Basemap plot #38's code and make it an optional lib (via a try), wherein matplotlib simply plots based on the x and y values in the dataframe.

[kuanb]

Here's a sketch (not finalized) of what the install steps would be in a Dockerfile:

RUN echo "Installing GEOS library..." && \
    mkdir -p /provisioning/geos && \
    cd /provisioning/geos && \
    curl -# -O http://download.osgeo.org/geos/geos-3.5.1.tar.bz2 && \
    tar -xjf geos-3.5.1.tar.bz2 && \
    cd geos-3.5.1 && \
    ./configure && \
    make -j$(python -c 'import multiprocessing; print(multiprocessing.cpu_count())') && \
    make install && \
    ldconfig -v && \
    rm -rf /provisioning/geos*

RUN echo "Installing Proj4 library..." && \
    mkdir -p /provisioning/proj4 && \
    cd /provisioning/proj4 && \
    curl -# -O http://download.osgeo.org/proj/proj-4.9.3.tar.gz && \
    tar -xf proj-4.9.3.tar.gz && \
    cd proj-4.9.3 && \
    ./configure && \
    make install

RUN echo "Installing Basemap plotting library..." && \
    mkdir -p /provisioning/basemap && \
    cd /provisioning/basemap && \
    wget https://sourceforge.net/projects/matplotlib/files/matplotlib-toolkits/basemap-1.0.7/basemap-1.0.7.tar.gz && \
    tar -xf basemap-1.0.7.tar.gz && \
    cd basemap-1.0.7 && \
    python setup.py install && \
    rm -rf /provisioning/basemap

Aside: Installing GEOS is slow.

[wwymak]

just wondering-- is using basemap for the plot still a good idea, given that it's being EOL? https://matplotlib.org/basemap/users/intro.html#cartopy-new-management-and-eol-announcement

[sablanchard]

Hi @wwymak you are right, updating plot to move away from basemap makes sense with its depreciation and move over to cartopy. PRs are welcome if interested. Added it as a new issue: #110 .

[knaaptime]

there's also contextily if you're after a more full-featured basemap

[smmaurer]

See issue #144