MPAS-viewer: A Python package for an efficient visualization of the MPAS-atmosphere unstructured mesh

Visualizing the output of models that use unstructured meshes, such as the Model for Prediction Across Scales Atmosphere (MPAS-A), poses unique challenges. MPAS-A employs a variable-resolution hexagon-based mesh to accurately capture complex geometries and localized phenomena, offering more details where needed and less details elsewhere to reduce computational cost. While MPAS-A input and output data are stored in NetCDF format, their organization by mesh cells rather than regular latitude-longitude grids makes them difficult to visualize using conventional tools. While some tools support MPAS-A data, they often require preprocessing steps to convert the mesh into a more compatible format due to inherent limitations. To address this gap, we present MPAS-Viewer, a lightweight Python-based post-processing tool designed to be efficient, portable across systems, and easy to install with minimal dependencies. It supports both regional and global MPAS-A domains, making it suitable for a wide range of applications. MPAS-Viewer provides an accurate and user-friendly way to visualize MPAS-A data directly on its native mesh, faster compared to similar tools, enabling faster insights and easier exploration.