OGC network Common Data Form (netCDF) standards suite

1) Overview

netCDF is a set of software libraries and self-describing, machine-independent data formats that support the creation, access, and sharing of array-oriented scientific data. The conventions for climate and forecast (CF) metadata are designed to promote the processing and sharing of netCDF files. The conventions define metadata that provide a definitive description of what the data represents, and the spatial and temporal properties of the data.

The OGC CF-netCDF standard consists of a suite of standards that support encoding of digital geospatial information representing space/time-varying phenomena. Although it was originally developed for the Earth science community, netCDF can be used to communicate and store a wide variety of multidimensional data. The netCDF data model and encodings are particularly well suited to providing data in forms familiar to atmospheric and oceanic scientists, specifically, as sets of related arrays.

The OGC CF-netCDF standards and related documents (primer, best practices, engineering reports, etc.) are accessible from the table below. Additional Extensions to the Core standard may be specified in the future. The CF-netCDF Core and Extensions Primer provides an overview of the many possible components of the CF-netCDF suite and explains how those components fit together into a coherent whole.

2) Downloads

Submit a Change Request, Requirement, or Comment for this OGC standard.

3) Related News