[R-sig-Geo] Integrating a trajectory

[Paul Woods]

Hi everyone,

Perhaps this is a little removed from strict geography, but you seem to be a clever bunch.

I’m looking for a method in R or Python to integrate along a trajectory, through a regular grid. So, imagine an aeroplane flying from London to New York… I want to calculate how much material in the atmosphere the aeroplane comes into contact with. I have a regular grid with the density of the atmosphere at each lon, lat, altitude grid point, but of course the plane does not travel along grid lines, so some interpolation would be needed. Any ideas on where to start in calculating how much atmosphere a plane would scoop up from London to New York?

Thanks,

Paul.