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README.md

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 # CloudSatiPy
 Read CloudSat HDF files into xarray datasets
+
+This package is designed to be a lightweight but versatile method for loading Cloudsat data products produced by the Cloudsat DPC ([(https://www.cloudsat.cira.colostate.edu/)](https://www.cloudsat.cira.colostate.edu/)).
+
+The minimal requirements can be installed from conda using the following:
+
+```conda install -c conda-forge --yes --file conda-requirements.txt```
+
+Alternatively, a complete environment for running the examples can be created by running:
+
+```conda env create -f environment.yml --yes```
+
+The cloudsatipy module contains a single function, `open_cloudsat`, which can be used to read Cloudsat HDF files:
+
+```
+from cloudsatipy import open_cloudsat
+ds = open_cloudsat(cloudsat_filename, [variables=optional_list_of_vars_to_read])
+```
+
+Under the hood, it utilises a reader class, which can be used if you need to load variables in later in processing:
+
+```
+from cloudsatipy.reader import CloudsatReader
+reader = CloudsatReader(cloudsat_filename)
+ds = reader.data
+...do some processing...
+reader.read_data(requested_variable)
+new_ds = reader.data
+```
+
+A number of jupyter notebooks showing different applications can be found in the `examples` folder