MDTF-diagnostics framework code

The Model Diagnostics Task Force (MDTF)-Diagnostics package is a portable framework for running process-oriented diagnostics (PODs) on weather and climate model data. Each POD targets a specific physical process or emergent behavior, with the goals of determining how accurately the model represents that process, ensuring that models produce the right answers for the right reasons, and identifying gaps in the understanding of phenomena. The package provides an extensible, portable and reproducible means for running these diagnostics as part of the model development process. The framework handles software dependency and data management tasks, meaning that POD developers can focus on science instead of “reinventing the wheel”. Development is community-driven and built on open-source technologies. The current version of the package is available on GitHub. Documentation for users and contributors is hosted on readthedocs.io. Release notes can be found here for the corresponding version.Acknowledgements Development of this code framework for process-oriented diagnostics was supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Program Office Modeling, Analysis, Predictions and Projections (MAPP) Program (grant # NA18OAR4310280). Additional support was provided by University of California Los Angeles, the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Colorado State University, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the US Department of Energy. Many of the process-oriented diagnostics modules (PODs) were contributed by members of the NOAA Model Diagnostics Task Force under MAPP support. Statements, findings or recommendations in these documents do not necessarily reflect the views of NOAA or the US Department of Commerce