# cf.Field.cell_area¶

Field.cell_area(radius=6371229.0, insert=False, force=False)[source]

Return a field containing horizontal cell areas.

New in version 1.0.

>>> a = f.cell_area()

Parameters: radius: data-like, optional The radius used for calculating spherical surface areas when both of the horizontal axes are part of a spherical polar coordinate system. By default radius has a value of 6371229 metres. If units are not specified then units of metres are assumed. A data-like object is any object containing array-like or scalar data which could be used to create a cf.Data object. Example: Instances, x, of following types are all examples of data-like objects (because cf.Data(x) creates a valid cf.Data object): int, float, str, tuple, list, numpy.ndarray, cf.Data, cf.Coordinate, cf.Field. Example: Five equivalent ways to set a radius of 6371200 metres: radius=6371200, radius=numpy.array(6371200), radius=cf.Data(6371200), radius=cf.Data(6371200, 'm'), radius=cf.Data(6371.2, 'km'). insert: bool, optional If True then the calculated cell areas are also inserted in place as an area cell measure object. An existing area cell measure object for the horizontal axes will not be overwritten. force: bool, optional If True the always calculate the cell areas. By default if there is already an area cell measure object for the horizontal axes then it will provide the area values.
>>> a = f.cell_area()
>>> a = f.cell_area(insert=True)
>>> a = f.cell_area(force=True)