BC_coast_animation.py

BC_coast_animation.py generates a map of Vancouver Island and the BC coast, visualizing both topography and bathymetry using high-resolution bathymetry and topography data. The script uses Cartopy and Matplotlib to plot the region.

For gits and shiggles the script includes an animated expanding circle, simulating a seismic wave propagating from a hypothetical epicenter on the west coast of Vancouver Island. The animation is saved as a GIF.

Main features:

• Loads and visualizes bathymetry/topography from a GeoTIFF file using rioxarray
• Plots the region with Lambert Conformal projection
• Uses topo colourmap from cmocean
• Adds coastlines, borders, and gridlines
• Animates a propagating wave modelled as a front expanding at a constante rate
• Saves the animation as a GIF

Dependencies:

• matplotlib
• cmocean
• cartopy
• rioxarray
• xarray
• shapely
• numpy

Usage:

1. Create a Python virtual environment and install the project dependencies with uv sync (uv installation).
2. Place a GeoTIFF bathymetry file (e.g., gebco_2025_n54.0_s48.0_w-130.0_e-122.0.tif) in the project directory.
3. Run the script: uv run BC_coast_animation.py or python BC_coast_animation.py with the correct Python environment activated.