Quick Start

A short walkthrough of a basic cruise planning workflow.

Installation

pip install cruiseplan

# OR install from source
pip install git+https://github.com/ocean-uhh/cruiseplan.git

Your First Cruise

Create a simple 3-station CTD cruise in the North Atlantic:

# 1. Download bathymetry data (one-time setup, ~7.5 GB for default GEBCO 2025)
cruiseplan bathymetry

# 2. Create stations interactively (saves to data/ directory)
cruiseplan stations --lat 60 62 --lon -30 -25

# 3. Process the configuration (enriches and validates)
cruiseplan process data/stations.yaml

# 4. Generate timeline and outputs
cruiseplan schedule data/{cruise_name}_enriched.yaml

That’s it! You now have:

  • YAML configuration: data/{cruise_name}_enriched.yaml

  • Cruise map: data/{cruise_name}_map.png

  • Schedule: data/{cruise_name}_schedule.html

Interactive Station Placement

Step 2 opens an interactive map. Use these controls:

  • p: Place point stations (CTD casts)

  • l: Draw line transects

  • a: Define area surveys

  • u: Undo last action

  • y: Save and exit

Tip: Start with just 2-3 stations to learn the workflow.

What You Get

CruisePlan generates the following output files:

  • Maps: PNG maps and KML files for Google Earth

  • Timelines: HTML/LaTeX summaries or NetCDF/CSV complete schedules

  • LaTeX: Station tables and workplan documents

Next Steps

  • Edit your YAML: Customize operation types, durations, and metadata

  • Add historical context: Use cruiseplan pangaea to find existing stations

  • Multiple formats: Generate different output types with cruiseplan schedule

See Workflows for detailed examples and YAML Basics for configuration options.