NetCDF  4.4.0
software.md
1 Software for Manipulating or Displaying NetCDF Data {#software}
2 ===================================================
3 
4 [TOC]
5 
6 This document provides references to software packages that may be used for manipulating or displaying [netCDF](/software/netcdf/) data. We include information about both freely-available and licensed (commercial) software that can be used with netCDF data. We rely on developers to help keep this list up-to-date. If you know of corrections or additions, please [send them to us (mailto:support@unidata.ucar.edu). Where practical, we would like to include WWW links to information about these packages in the HTML version of this document.
7 
8 Other useful guides to utilities that can handle netCDF data include ARM's list of [ARM-tested netCDF data tools](http://science.arm.gov/%7ecflynn/ARM_Tested_Tools/), which includes some downloadable binaries and the NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory [guide to netCDF utilities](http://nomads.gfdl.noaa.gov/sandbox/products/vis/data/netcdf/GFDL_VG_NetCDF_Utils.html).
9 
10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
11 
12 
13 Freely Available Software {#freely}
14 =========================
15 
16 ANDX and ANAX {#ANDX}
17 ------------------------------------
18 
19 The ARM Program has developed [ANDX (ARM NetCDF Data eXtract)](http://engineering.arm.gov/~sbeus/andx-web/html/), a command-line utility designed for routine examination and extraction of data from netcdf files. Data can be displayed graphically (line-plot, scatter-plot, overlay, color-intensity, etc.) or extracted as ASCII data. Whether displayed graphically or extracted as ASCII, results can be saved to disk or viewed on screen.
20 
21 [ANAX (ARM NetCDF ASCII eXtract)](http://science.arm.gov/~cflynn/ARM_Tested_Tools/) is a scaled-down version of ANDX -- it is designed to only extract ASCII data. All features of ANDX pertaining to non-graphic data extraction are included in ANAX.
22 
23 ANTS {#ANTS}
24 ---------------------------
25 
26 The ARM Program has developed [ANTS (ARM NetCDF Tool Suite)](http://science.arm.gov/~cflynn/ANTS/), a collection of netCDF tools and utilities providing various means of creating and modifying netcdf files. ANTS is based on nctools written by Chuck Denham. The utilities within nctools were modified to compile with version 3.5 of the netCDF library, the command syntax was modified for consistency with other tools, and changes were made to accommodate ARM standard netCDF.
27 
28 The original functions from nctools were intended mainly for the creation, definition, and copying of fundamental netCDF elements. ARM added others which focus on manipulation of data within existing netCDF files. Additional functions have special support for multi-dimensional data such as "slicing" cross sections from multi-dimensional variable data or joining lesser-dimensional fields to form multi-dimensional structures. Functions have been added to support execution of arithmetic and logical operations, bundling or splitting netCDF files, comparing the structure or content of files, and so on.
29 
30 Essentially every type of netCDF library function call is exercised in ANTS. In this way then, this open-source collection of tools also represents a library of coding examples for fundamental netCDF tasks. See the [website](http://science.arm.gov/~cflynn/ANTS/) for more information.
31 
32 ARGOS {#ARGOS}
33 -----------------------------
34 
35 [ARGOS](http://www.lapeth.ethz.ch/argos/index.html) (interActive thRee-dimensional Graphics ObServatory) is a new IDL-based interactive 3D visualization tool, developed by [David N. Bresch](http://www.lapeth.ethz.ch/~david/index.html) and [Mark A. Liniger](http://www.lapeth.ethz.ch/~mark/index.html) at the Institute for Atmospheric Science at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH, Zürich.
36 
37 A highly optimized graphical user interface allows quick and elegant creation of even complex 3D graphics (volume rendering, isosurfaces,...), including Z-buffered overlays (with hidden lines), light and data shading, Xray images, 3D trajectories, animations and virtual flights around your data, all documented in a full on-line [html-help](http://www.lapeth.ethz.ch/argos/argos_general.html). The netCDF data format is preferred, but any other format can be read by providing an IDL (or FORTRAN or C or C++) interface. Some toolboxes (for atmospheric model output, trajectory display, radar data) have already been written, others might easily be added (in IDL, FORTRAN or C code). All interactive activities are tracked in a script, allowing quick reconstruction of anything done as well as running ARGOS in batch script mode.
38 
39 Information about [copyright and licensing conditions](http://www.lapeth.ethz.ch/argos/argos_copyright.html) are available. For further information and installation, please E-mail to: bresch@atmos.umnw.ethz.ch
40 
41 CDAT {#CDAT}
42 ---------------------------
43 
44 The [Climate Data Analysis Tool (CDAT)](http://cdat.sf.net), developed
45 by the [Program for Climate Model Diagnosis and Intercomparison
46 (PCMDI)](http://www-pcmdi.llnl.gov/) at Lawrence Livermore National
47 Laboratory, provides the capabilities needed to analyze model data,
48 perform complex mathematical calculations, and graphically display the
49 results. It provides the necessary tools to diagnose, validate, and
50 intercompare large observational and global climate model data sets.
51 It includes the ability to ingest large climate datasets in netCDF, HDF,
52 DRS, and GrADS/GRIB format; the Visualization and Computation System
53 (VCS) module, visually displays and animates ingested or created data;
54 and the Library of AMIP Data Transmission Standards (LATS) module
55 outputs data in the machine-independent netCDF or GrADS/GRIB file
56 formats.
57 
58 In addition, the Command Line Interface (CLI) module allows CDAT to
59 receive argument and function input via the command line, and the
60 Graphical User Interface (GUI) allows CDAT to receive argument and
61 function input via a point-and-click environment.
62 
63 The software, which runs as a standalone process or within PCMDI's
64 Visualization and Computation System (VCS), provides climate scientists
65 with an easy and fast method to read different file formats, and to
66 analyze and graphically display climate data in an integrated fashion.
67 CDAT includes a set of pre-defined functions to allow the user to
68 manipulate the data and send the output to a file which can be viewed as
69 an image, or as a collection of images in an animation. The software has
70 a gradual learning curve, allowing the novice user to quickly obtain
71 useful results.
72 
73 CDFconvert {#CDFconvert}
74 ---------------------------------------
75 
76 The [MRG CDFconvert
77 package](http://www.atmos.albany.edu/facstaff/rmctc/cdf_cvt/) provided
78 by the Mesoscale Research Group, McGill University/SUNY Albany, is
79 designed to address data conversion issues for gridded datasets stored
80 under the
81 [COARDS](http://ferret.wrc.noaa.gov/noaa_coop/coop_cdf_profile.html)
82 convention. CDFconvert converts regular Cylindrical Equidistant
83 (Lat/Long) and Gaussian (Spherical) netCDF grids into either the
84 Canadian [RPN Standard
85 File](http://www.cmc.ec.gc.ca/rpn/modcom/si/libraries/rmnlib/fstd/index.html)
86 or [GEMPAK](/software/gempak/index.html) file formats. MRG CDFconvert
87 has the flexibility to handle netCDF files generated by a number of
88 sources, including NCEP and ECMWF. User-definable conversion tables make
89 the extension of the package to different datasets possible.
90 
91 cdfsync {#cdfsync}
92 ---------------------------------
93 
94 Joe Sirott of NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory has
95 developed cdfsync, a program that allows users to rapidly synchronize a
96 set of netCDF files over a network. Fast synchronization times are
97 achieved by only transmitting the differences between files. It is built
98 on the Open Source [rsync](http://samba.anu.edu.au/rsync/) program, but
99 contains a number of optimizations including:
100 
101 - Special handling of netCDF files for faster synchronization
102  calculations
103 - Much faster updates of large numbers of small netCDF files
104 - In-place updates of large netCDF files
105 
106 The latest version should run on Linux variants and Solaris.
107 
108 More information is available at the [cdfsync
109 website](http://www.epic.noaa.gov/epic/software/cdfsync/).
110 
111 CDO (Climate Data Operators) {#CDO}
112 --------------------------------------------------
113 
114 Uwe Schulzweida at the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology has
115 developed [CDO](http://code.zmaw.de/projects/cdo), a collection of
116 Operators to manipulate and analyze Climate Data files. Supported file
117 formats include netCDF and GRIB. There are more than 350 operators
118 available. The following table provides a brief overview of the main
119 categories.
120 
121 - File information (info, sinfo, diff, ...)
122 - File operations (copy, cat, merge, split\*, ...)
123 - Selection (selcode, selvar, sellevel, seltimestep, ...)
124 - Missing values (setctomiss, setmisstoc, setrtomiss)
125 - Arithmetic (add, sub, mul, div, ...)
126 - Mathematical functions (sqrt, exp, log, sin, cos, ...)
127 - Comparison (eq, ne, le, lt, ge, gt, ...)
128 - Conditions (ifthen, ifnotthen, ifthenc, ifnotthenc)
129 - Field statistics (fldsum, fldavg, fldstd, fldmin, fldmax, ...)
130 - Vertical statistics (vertsum, vertavg, vertstd, vertmin, ...)
131 - Time range statistics (timavg, yearavg, monavg, dayavg, ...)
132 - Field interpolation (remapbil, remapcon, remapdis, ...)
133 - Vertical interpolation (ml2pl, ml2hl)
134 - Time interpolation (inttime, intyear)
135 
136 As an example of use of CDO, converting from GRIB to netCDF can be as
137 simple as
138 
139  cdo -f nc copy file.grb file.nc
140 
141 or with relative time axis (for usage with GrADS)
142  cdo -r -f nc copy file.grb file.nc
143 
144 or using ECMWF reanalysis on a reduced grid
145  cdo -R -f nc copy file.grb file.nc
146 
147 More information is available on the [CDO
148 homepage](http://code.zmaw.de/projects/cdo).
149 
150 CIDS Tools {#CIDS_Tools}
151 ---------------------------------------
152 
153 The Center for Clouds Chemistry and Climate
154 ([C4](http://www-c4.ucsd.edu/)) Integrated Data Systems
155 ([CIDS](http://www-c4.ucsd.edu/~cids/)) group has developed several
156 useful netCDF utilities:
157 - cdf2idl: Writes an IDL script to read a NetCDF file.
158 - cdf2c: Writes C code to read a NetCDF file.
159 - cdf2fortran: Writes FORTRAN source code to read a NetCDF file.
160 - cdf2asc: Dumps NetCDF data to an ASCII file.
161 
162 The source for these utilities can be downloaded from [CIDS NetCDF
163 Visualization Tools
164 site](http://www-c4.ucsd.edu/~cids/software/visual.html).
165 
166 CSIRO MATLAB/netCDF interface {#CSIRO-MATLAB}
167 ------------------------------------------------------------
168 
169 The [CSIRO MATLAB/netCDF interface](http://www.marine.csiro.au/sw/matlab-netcdf.html) is now
170 available from the [CSIRO Marine Laboratories](http://www.marine.csiro.au).
171 The CSIRO MATLAB/netCDF interface is run from within MATLAB and has a
172 simple syntax. It has options for automatically handling missing values,
173 scale factors, and permutation of hyperslabs. It is, however, limited to
174 retrieving data from, and information about, existing netCDF files.
175 
176 The basis of the interface is a machine-dependent mex-file called
177 mexcdf53. Rather than call the mex-file directly users are advised to
178 employ both [Chuck Denham's netCDF toolbox](#NC4ML5) and the CSIRO
179 MATLAB/netCDF interface described here. For read-only access to existing
180 netCDF data, the CSIRO interface has a simpler syntax than the netCDF
181 Toolbox, but the latter may also be used to create and manipulate netCDF
182 variables and datasets.
183 
184 EPIC {#EPIC}
185 ---------------------------
186 
187 NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
188 ([PMEL](http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/)) has developed the
189 [EPIC](http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/epic/) software package for
190 oceanographic data. EPIC provides graphical display and data field
191 manipulation for multi-dimensional netCDF files (up to 4 dimensions).
192 PMEL has been using this software on Unix and VMS several years. At
193 present, they have:
194 
195 - a data file I/O library (
196  [epslib](http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/epic/eps-manual/epslib_toc.html),
197  which is layered on top of the netCDF library).
198 - epslib allows transparent access to multiple data file formats
199 - a [MATLAB MexEPS
200  interface](http://www.epic.noaa.gov/epic/software/mexeps.htm) for
201  using any supported EPIC file with MATLAB
202 - [suite of EPIC
203  programs](http://www.epic.noaa.gov/epic/software/ep_programs.htm)
204  for graphics and analysis of hydrographic profile data and time
205  series data.
206 
207 This software was developed on Sun/Unix and is also supported for
208 DEC/Ultrix and VAX/VMS as a system for data management, display and
209 analysis system for observational oceanographic time series and
210 hydrographic data. The EPIC software includes over 50 programs for
211 oceanographic display and analysis, as well as utilities for putting
212 in-situ or observational data on-line (with on-the-fly graphics and data
213 download) on the WWW.
214 The developers are interested in coordinating with others who may be
215 developing oceanographic software for use with netCDF files. The EPIC
216 software is available via anonymous FTP from ftp.noaapmel.gov in the
217 epic/ and /eps directories. To obtain the EPIC software, please see Web
218 pages at <http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/epic/download/index.html>. For
219 information about EPIC, please see the Web pages at
220 <http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/epic/index.html>. Contact epic@pmel.noaa.gov,
221 or Nancy Soreide, nns@noaapmel.gov, for more information.
222 
223 Excel Use
224 ------------------------------------
225 
226 Several packages are available for accessing netCDF data from Microsoft
227 Excel, including the [netcdf4excel](#netcdf4excel) add-in for Excel, and
228 a [Scientific Dataset (SDS) Library](#SDS) that supports a DataSetEditor
229 add-in for Excel to view and modify various forms of data, including
230 netCDF.
231 
232 EzGet {#EzGet}
233 -----------------------------
234 
235 A FORTRAN library called
236 [EzGet](http://www-pcmdi.llnl.gov/ktaylor/ezget/ezget.html) has been
237 developed at [PCMDI](http://www-pcmdi.llnl.gov/PCMDI.html) to facilitate
238 retrieval of modeled and observed climate data stored in popular formats
239 including [DRS](http://www-pcmdi.llnl.gov/drach/DRS.html),
240 [netCDF](/software/netcdf/), [GrADS](http://grads.iges.org/grads), and,
241 if a control file is supplied,
242 [GRIB](ftp://nic.fb4.noaa.gov/pub/nws/nmc/docs/gribed1/). You can
243 specify how the data should be structured and whether it should undergo
244 a grid transformation before you receive it, even when you know little
245 about the original structure of the stored data (e.g., its original
246 dimension order, grid, and domain).
247 The EzGet library comprises a set of subroutines that can be linked to
248 any FORTRAN program. EzGet reads files through the
249 [cdunif](http://www-pcmdi.llnl.gov/drach/cdunif.html) interface, but use
250 of EzGet does not require familiarity with cdunif. The main advantages
251 of using EzGet instead of the lower level cdunif library include:
252 
253 - Substantial error trapping capabilities and detailed error messages
254 - Versatile capability of conveniently selecting data from specified
255  regions (e.g., oceans, North America, all land areas north of 45
256  degrees latitude, etc.)
257 - Ability to map data to a new grid at the time it is retrieved by
258  EzGet
259 - Automatic creation of \`\`weights'' for use in subsequent averaging
260  or masking of data
261 - Increased control in specifying the domain of the data to be
262  retrieved.
263 
264 For more information about EzGet, including instructions for downloading
265 the documentation or software, see the EzGet home page at
266 <http://www-pcmdi.llnl.gov/ktaylor/ezget/ezget.html>. For questions or
267 comments on EzGet, contact Karl Taylor (taylor13@llnl.gov).
268 
269 FAN
270 -------------------------
271 
272 [FAN (File Array Notation)](/software/netcdf/fan_utils.html) is Harvey
273 Davies' package for extracting and manipulating array data from netCDF
274 files. The package includes the three utilities nc2text, text2nc, and
275 ncrob for printing selected data from netCDF arrays, copying ASCII data
276 into netCDF arrays, and performing various operations (sum, mean, max,
277 min, product, ...) on netCDF arrays. A library (fanlib) is also included
278 that supports the use of FAN from C programs. The package is available
279 via anonymous FTP from
280 <ftp://ftp.unidata.ucar.edu/pub/netcdf/contrib/fan.tar.Z>. Questions and
281 comments may be sent to Harvey Davies, harvey.davies@csiro.au.
282 
283 FERRET {#FERRET}
284 -------------------------------
285 
286 [FERRET](http://ferret.wrc.noaa.gov/Ferret/) is an interactive computer
287 visualization and analysis environment designed to meet the needs of
288 oceanographers and meteorologists analyzing large and complex gridded
289 data sets. It is available by anonymous ftp from abyss.pmel.noaa.gov for
290 a number of computer systems: SUN (Solaris and SUNOS), DECstation
291 (Ultrix and OSF/1), SGI, VAX/VMS and Macintosh (limited support), and
292 IBM RS-6000 (soon to be released).
293 FERRET offers a Mathematica-like approach to analysis; new variables may
294 be defined interactively as mathematical expressions involving data set
295 variables. Calculations may be applied over arbitrarily shaped regions.
296 Fully documented graphics are produced with a single command. Graphics
297 styles included line plots, scatter plots, contour plots, color-filled
298 contour plots, vector plots, wire frame plots, etc. Detailed controls
299 over plot characteristics, page layout and overlays are provided. NetCDF
300 is supported both as an input and an output format.
301 
302 Many excellent software packages have been developed recently for
303 scientific visualization. The features that make FERRET distinctive
304 among these packages are Mathematica-like flexibility, geophysical
305 formatting (latitude/longitude/date), "intelligent" connection to its
306 data base, special memory management for very large calculations, and
307 symmetrical processing in 4 dimensions. Contact Steve Hankin,
308 hankin@noaapmel.gov, for more information.
309 
310 Fimex {#fimex}
311 -----------------------------
312 
313 Heiko Klein (Norwegian Meteorological Institute) has developed the
314 [fimex](https://wiki.met.no/fimex/start) (File Interpolation,
315 Manipulation, and EXtraction) C++ library for gridded geospatial data.
316 It converts between several data formats (currently netCDF, NcML, GRIB1
317 or GRIB2, and felt). Fimex also enables you to change the projection and
318 interpolation of scalar and vector grids, to subset the gridded data,
319 and to extract only parts of the files. Fimex supports a growing list of
320 other [features](https://wiki.met.no/fimex/features), including support
321 for most NcML features and for netCDF-4 compression.
322 
323 For simple usage, Fimex also comes with the command line program fimex.
324 
325 Documentation and downloads are available from the [fimex web
326 site](http://wiki.met.no/fimex/).
327 
328 FWTools (GIS Binary Kit for Windows and Linux) {#fwtools}
329 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
330 
331 [FWTools](http://fwtools.maptools.org/) is Frank Warmerdam's set of Open
332 Source GIS binaries for Windows (win32) and Linux (x86 32bit) systems.
333 The kits are intended to be easy for end users to install and get going
334 with, and include OpenEV, GDAL, MapServer, PROJ.4 and OGDI as well as
335 some supporting components. FWTools aims to track the latest development
336 versions of the packages included as opposed to official releases, "to
337 give folks a chance to use the *latest and greatest*".
338 
339 GDAL {#GDAL}
340 ---------------------------
341 
342 Frank Warmerdam's [GDAL](http://www.remotesensing.org/gdal/index.html)
343 is a translator library for raster geospatial data formats that is
344 released under an X/MIT style Open Source license. As a library, it
345 presents a [single abstract data
346 model](http://www.remotesensing.org/gdal/gdal_datamodel.html) to the
347 calling application for all supported formats. The related
348 [OGR](http://www.remotesensing.org/gdal/ogr) library (which lives within
349 the GDAL source tree) provides a similar capability for simple features
350 vector data.
351 
352 GDAL is in active use in several projects, and includes roughly 40
353 format drivers, including a translator for netCDF (read/write). Other
354 translators include GeoTIFF (read/write), Erdas Imagine (read/write),
355 ESRI .BIL (read), .aux labeled raw (read/write), DTED (read), SDTS DEM
356 (read), CEOS (read), JPEG (read/write), PNG (read/write), Geosoft GXF
357 (read) and Arc/Info Binary Grid (read). A full list is available in
358 [Supported
359 Formats](http://www.remotesensing.org/gdal/formats_list.html).
360 
361 GDAL has recently included support for the netCDF-4 enhanced data model
362 and netCDF-4 format, as well as improved support for recent additions to
363 the CF conventions.
364 
365 As an example of the use of GDAL, converting an ArcInfo ASCII grid to
366 netCDF (GMT conventions) as easy as:
367 
368  gdal_translate arc_ascii.grd -of GMT gmt_grid.nc
369 
370 GDL (GNU Data Language) {#GDL}
371 ---------------------------------------------
372 
373 [GDL](http://gnudatalanguage.sourceforge.net/) is a free implementation
374 of most of the programming language supported by [IDL](#IDL)
375 (Interactive Data Language). GDL supports the netCDF-3 API.
376 
377 Gfdnavi (Geophysical fluid data navigator) {#Gfdnavi}
378 --------------------------------------------------------------------
379 
380 [Gfdnavi](http://www.gfd-dennou.org/arch/davis/gfdnavi/index.en.htm) is
381 a web-based tool to archive, share, distribute, analyze, and visualize
382 geophysical fluid data and knowledge. The software is under development
383 by members of the GFD Dennou Club, including T. Horinouchi (RISH, Kyoto
384 U.), S. Nishizawa (RIMS, Kyoto U.), and colleagues. Gfdnavi uses a
385 metadata database for managing and analyzing data and visualizations. It
386 also permits publishing data for web access and will soon support access
387 to data on other Gfdnavi servers. Web service APIs are now under
388 development. A presentation [Introducing
389 Gfdnavi](http://www.gfd-dennou.org/arch/davis/gfdnavi/presen/2007-03-05_GfdnaviIntro.En/pub/)
390 describes the architecture and shows examples of use.
391 
392 Gfdnavi is dependent on two technologies:
393 
394 - [Ruby on Rails](http://www.rubyonrails.com/), a framework for web
395  applications, and
396 - [the Dennou Ruby Project](http://ruby.gfd-dennou.org/), a collection
397  of tools for geophysical data. These tools include
398  [GPhys](http://ruby.gfd-dennou.org/products/gphys/) software to
399  handle GRIB, GrADS, and netCDF data uniformly.
400 
401 As an example of this technology, Takuji Kubota has established [a
402 Gfdnavi server](http://www.gsmap.aero.osakafu-u.ac.jp/gfdnavi/) for the
403 Global Satellite Mapping of Precipitation
404 ([GSMaP](http://www.radar.aero.osakafu-u.ac.jp/~gsmap/index_english.html))
405 project.
406 
407 GMT {#GMT}
408 -------------------------
409 
410 [GMT](http://gmt.soest.hawaii.edu/) (Generic Mapping Tools) is an open
411 source collection of about 60 tools for manipulating geographic and
412 Cartesian data sets (including filtering, trend fitting, gridding,
413 projecting, etc.) and producing Encapsulated PostScript File (EPS)
414 illustrations ranging from simple x-y plots via contour maps to
415 artificially illuminated surfaces and 3-D perspective views. GMT
416 supports 30 map projections and transformations and comes with support
417 data such as coastlines, rivers, and political boundaries. GMT is
418 developed and maintained by Paul Wessel and Walter H. F. Smith with help
419 from a global set of volunteers, and is supported by the National
420 Science Foundation. It is released under the GNU General Public License.
421 
422 The package can access COARDS-compliant netCDF grids as well as ASCII,
423 native binary, or user-defined formats. The GMT package is available via
424 anonymous ftp from several servers; see
425 [gmt.soest.hawaii.edu](http://gmt.soest.hawaii.edu) for installation
426 information.
427 
428 Grace {#Grace}
429 -----------------------------
430 
431 [Grace](http://plasma-gate.weizmann.ac.il/Grace/) is a tool to make
432 two-dimensional plots of scientific data, including 1D netCDF variables.
433 It runs under the X Window System and OSF Motif (recent versions of
434 LessTif are, by and large, fine, too). Grace runs on practically any
435 version of Unix. As well, it has been successfully ported to VMS, OS/2
436 and Win9\*/NT (some functionality may be missing, though). Grace is a
437 descendant of ACE/gr.
438 A few features of Grace are:
439 
440 - User defined scaling, tick marks, labels, symbols, line styles,
441  colors.
442 - Batch mode for unattended plotting.
443 - Read and write parameters used during a session.
444 - Regressions, splines, running averages, DFT/FFT,
445  cross/auto-correlation, ...
446 - Support for dynamic module loading.
447 - Hardcopy support for PostScript, PDF, GIF, and PNM formats.
448 - Device-independent Type1 font rastering.
449 - Ability to read or write netCDF data.
450 
451 GrADS {#GrADS}
452 -----------------------------
453 
454 [GrADS](http://grads.iges.org/grads/grads.html) (Grid Analysis and
455 Display System) is an interactive desktop tool from
456 [COLA/IGES](http://grads.iges.org/cola.html) that is currently in use
457 worldwide for the analysis and display of earth science data. GrADS is
458 implemented on all commonly available UNIX workstations, Apple
459 Macintosh, and DOS or Linux based PCs, and is freely available via
460 anonymous ftp. GrADS provides an integrated environment for access,
461 manipulation, and display of earth science data in several forms,
462 including GRIB and netCDF. For more information, see the [GrADS User's
463 Guide](http://grads.iges.org/grads/gadoc/users.html).
464 
465 Gri
466 -------------------------
467 
468 Gri is an extensible plotting language for producing scientific graphs,
469 such as x-y plots, contour plots, and image plots. Dan Kelley of
470 Dalhousie University is the author of Gri, which can read data from
471 netCDF files as well as ASCII and native binary data. For more
472 information on Gri, see the URL <http://gri.sourceforge.net/>.
473 
474 GXSM {#GXSM}
475 ---------------------------
476 
477 The GXSM is the Gnome X Scanning Microscopy project, it is a bit more
478 than just a piece of software (the GXSM itself), there is full hardware
479 support for DSP cards including open source DSP software and a growing
480 set of SPM related electronics. For more information, see
481 <http://gxsm.sourceforge.net/>.
482 
483 HDF interface {#HDF_interface}
484 ---------------------------------------------
485 
486 The National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) has added the
487 netCDF interface to their [Hierarchical Data Format
488 (HDF)](http://hdf.ncsa.uiuc.edu/) software. HDF is an extensible data
489 format for self-describing files. A substantial set of applications and
490 utilities based on HDF is available; these support raster-image
491 manipulation and display and browsing through multidimensional
492 scientific data. An implementation is now available that provides the
493 netCDF interface to HDF. With this software, it is possible to use the
494 netCDF calling interface to place data into an HDF file. The netCDF
495 calling interface has not changed and netCDF files stored in XDR format
496 are readable, so existing programs and data will still be usable
497 (although programs will need to be relinked to the new library). There
498 is currently no support for the mixing of HDF and netCDF structures. For
499 example, a raster image can exist in the same file as a netCDF object,
500 but you have to use the Raster Image interface to read the image and the
501 netCDF interface to read the netCDF object. The other HDF interfaces are
502 currently being modified to allow multi-file access, closer integration
503 with the netCDF interface will probably be delayed until the end of that
504 project.
505 Eventually, it will be possible to integrate netCDF objects with the
506 rest of the HDF tool suite. Such an integration will then allow tools
507 written for netCDF and tools written for HDF to both interact
508 intelligently with the new data files.
509 
510 HDF-EOS to netCDF converter {#HDF-EOS}
511 -----------------------------------------------------
512 
513 The Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center ([GES
514 DISC](http://disc.gsfc.nasa.gov)) has developed an on-the-fly HDF-EOS to
515 netCDF/CF converter for the following products, making them easier to
516 use in the [Unidata IDV](#IDV) and
517 [McIDAS-V](http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/mcidas/software/v/):
518 
519 - AIRS Level 2 (scene) profiles of moisture, air temperature and trace
520  gases
521 - AIRS Level 3 (global grid) profiles of moisture, air temperature and
522  trace gases
523 - OMI UV-B at the surface
524 - TOMS ozone and aerosols
525 
526 [Instructions](http://disc.gsfc.nasa.gov/services/NetCDFConversionforIDVandMcIDAS-V.shtml)
527 are available for searching and converting these data. More information
528 on AIRS products is available at
529 <http://disc.gsfc.nasa.gov/AIRS/index.html>.
530 
531 HIPHOP {#HIPHOP}
532 -------------------------------
533 
534 [HIPHOP](http://www.knmi.nl/onderzk/atmosam/English/Service/hiphop/hiphop.html),
535 developed by Dominik Brunner, is a widget based IDL application that
536 largely facilitates the visualization and analysis of 2D, 3D, and 4D
537 atmospheric science data, in particular atmospheric tracer distributions
538 and meteorological fields.
539 Graphical output of (atmospheric model) data can be quickly generated in
540 a large number of different ways, including horizontal maps at selected
541 model or pressure levels, vertical north-south, east-west, or slant
542 cross-sections (including zonal averages), time slices, animations, etc.
543 It also allows mathematical operations on the existing fields to
544 generate new fields for further analysis, and it can be run as a batch
545 application.
546 
547 The program handles data in netCDF, HDF and GRIB format. Interfaces to
548 other data formats (e.g. ASCII and binary data) can be added easily.
549 
550 Beginning with Version 4.0, it also supports the ability to overlay
551 meteorological fields on a number of different satellite images, and to
552 draw air parcel trajectories.
553 
554 Hyperslab OPerator Suite (HOPS) {#HOPS}
555 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
556 
557 Hyperslab OPerator Suite
558 ([HOPS](http://www.cgd.ucar.edu/gds/svn/hyperslab.html)), developed by
559 R. Saravanan at NCAR, is a bilingual, multi-platform software package
560 for processing data in netCDF files conforming to the NCAR-CCM format or
561 the NCAR Ocean Model format. HOPS is implemented in [IDL](#IDL), the
562 widely-used commercial interpreted language, and also in
563 [Yorick](ftp://ftp-icf.llnl.gov/pub/Yorick/), a public-domain
564 interpreted language that is freely available from the Lawrence
565 Livermore National Laboratory. The IDL version of HOPS should run on any
566 platform supported by IDL. The Yorick version too runs on most common
567 UNIX platforms, such as Sun, SGI, Cray, and LINUX computers.
568 HOPS is not a monolithic program, but a suite of operators that act on
569 data units called "hyperslabs". The design of HOPS is object-oriented,
570 rather than procedure-oriented; the operators treat the numeric data and
571 the associated meta-data (like coordinate information) as a single
572 object.
573 
574 Note that HOPS is not a general purpose netCDF utility and works only
575 for the NCAR CSM netCDF formats. For more information, check the [HOPS
576 home page](http://www.cgd.ucar.edu/gds/svn/hyperslab.html).
577 
578 iCDF (imports chromatographic netCDF data into MATLAB) {#iCDF}
579 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
580 
581 Klavs M. Sørensen, Thomas Skov and Rasmus Bro (Faculty of Life Sciences,
582 University of Copenhagen) have developed
583 [iCDF](http://www.models.life.ku.dk/source/iCDF/index.asp), a free and
584 documented toolbox for importing chromatographic data in the
585 netCDF-based format that most manufacturers of chromatographic software
586 support.
587 
588 The iCDF software is currently for XC-MS data (X: GC, LC, HPLC), but
589 soon it will be able to import data using other detectors as well. It
590 can be used to open netCDF files from many different instruments (e.g.
591 Agilent, Bruker) and many chromatographic software packages (e.g.
592 ChemStation).
593 
594 For more information, see the paper
595 
596 > Skov T and Bro R. (2008) Solving fundamental problems in
597 > chromatographic analysis Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, 390
598 > (1): 281-285.
599 
600 IDV (Integrated Data Viewer) {#IDV}
601 --------------------------------------------------
602 
603 Unidata's [Integrated Data Viewer (IDV)](/software/idv/) is a Java
604 application (for Java 1.4 or later) that can be used to display a
605 variety of netCDF files, particularly well formatted, geolocated
606 datasets. Features include:
607 
608 - Access to local and remote netCDF files and a variety of [other data
609  formats](/software/idv/docs/userguide/data/DataSources.html)
610 - Slicing and probing of multidimensional data
611 - Support for netCDF conventions (CF, COARDS, NUWG, AWIPS)
612 - InstallAnywhere installers for easy download and installation
613 - Save display state to a bundle for easy recreation of views
614 - Support for non-gridded data through the [Common Data Model
615  (CDM)](/software/netcdf-java/CDM/)
616 
617 The IDV uses the [VisAD Java
618 library](http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/~billh/visad.html) for interactive and
619 collaborative visualization and analysis and the [netCDF Java
620 library](/software/netcdf-java/) for reading and manipulating netCDF
621 files.
622 
623 Ingrid {#Ingrid}
624 -------------------------------
625 
626 [Ingrid](http://ingrid.ldgo.columbia.edu/), by M. Benno Blumenthal
627 <benno@ldeo.columbia.edu>, is designed to manipulate large datasets
628 and model input/output. It can read data from its data catalog, a netCDF
629 file, or a directly attached model, and output the data, either by
630 feeding it to a model, creating a netCDF file, or creating plots and
631 other representations of the data.
632 
633 Ingrid has a number of filters which allow simple data manipulations,
634 such as adding two datasets together, smoothing, averaging, and
635 regridding to a new coordinate. In addition to netCDF, it also reads
636 HDF, CDF, VOGL, and SGI GL.
637 
638 Ingrid is currently running as a WWW daemon that can be accessed through
639 <http://rainbow.ldgo.columbia.edu/datacatalog.html> to see some of its
640 capabilities on a climate data catalog maintained by the [Climate
641 Group](http://rainbow.ldeo.columbia.edu/) of the [Lamont-Doherty Earth
642 Observatory](http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/) of Columbia University. To
643 quote the introduction:
644 
645 > The Data Catalog is both a catalog and a library of datasets, i.e. it
646 > both helps you figure out which data you want, and helps you work with
647 > the data. The interface allows you to make plots, tables, and files
648 > from any dataset, its subsets, or processed versions thereof.
649 >
650 > This data server is designed to make data accessible to people using
651 > WWW clients (viewers) and to serve as a data resource for WWW
652 > documents. Since most documents cannot use raw data, the server is
653 > able to deliver the data in a variety of ways: as data files (netCDF
654 > and HDF), as tables (html), and in a variety of plots (line, contour,
655 > color, vector) and plot formats (PostScript and gif). Processing of
656 > the data, particularly averaging, can be requested as well.
657 >
658 > The Data Viewer in particular demonstrates the power of the Ingrid
659 > daemon.
660 
661 Ingrid currently runs on Linux, for which binaries are available. CVS
662 access to the current source can be arranged.
663 
664  Intel Array Visualizer {#IntelArrayVisualizer}
665 --------------------------------------------------------------
666 
667 The [Intel® Array
668 Visualizer](http://www.intel.com/cd/software/products/asmo-na/eng/compilers/226277.htm)
669 and Intel® Array Viewer are available as [free
670 downloads](http://www.intel.com/cd/software/products/asmo-na/eng/compilers/226277.htm)
671 for Windows platforms. They offer an application and a set of software
672 tools and components, which include C, Fortran, and .Net libraries, for
673 developing scientific visualization applications and for creating
674 interactive graphs of array data in various formats, including HDF and
675 netCDF.
676 
677 IVE {#IVE}
678 -------------------------
679 
680 [IVE (Interactive Visualization
681 Environment)](http://www.atmos.washington.edu/ive/) is a software
682 package designed to interactively display and analyze gridded data. IVE
683 assumes the data to be displayed are contained in one- two-, three- or
684 four-dimensional arrays. By default, the numbers within these arrays are
685 assumed to represent grid point values of some field variable (such as
686 pressure) on a rectangular evenly spaced grid. IVE is, nevertheless,
687 capable of displaying data on arbitrary curvilinear grids.
688 
689 If the data points are not evenly spaced on a rectangular grid, IVE must
690 be informed of the grid structure, either by specifying "attributes" in
691 the data input or by specifying the coordinate transform in a user
692 supplied subroutine. Stretched rectangular grids (which occur when the
693 stretching along a given coordinate is a function only of the value of
694 that coordinate) can be accommodated by specifying one-dimensional
695 arrays containing the grid-point locations along the stretched
696 coordinate as part of the IVE input data. Staggered meshes can also be
697 accommodated by setting "attributes" in the input data. The structure of
698 more complicated curvilinear grids must be communicated to IVE via user
699 supplied "transforms," which define the mapping between physical space
700 and the array indices.
701 
702 Since four-dimensional data cannot be directly displayed on a flat
703 computer screen, it is necessary to reduced the dimensionality of the
704 data before it is displayed. One of IVE's primary capabilities involves
705 dimension reduction or "data slicing." IVE allows the user to display
706 lower-dimensional subsets of the data by fixing a coordinate or by
707 averaging over the coordinate.
708 
709 IVE currently has the capability to display
710 
711 - scalar fields as
712  - 2D scalar plots
713  - 1D scalar plots
714  - vertical soundings
715  - a single point value
716 - vector fields as 2D vector plots
717 
718 IVE lets you overlay plots, loop plots, and control a wide variety of
719 display parameters.
720 
721 IVE also can perform algebraic computations on the gridded data and can
722 calculate derivatives. More complicated computations can be performed in
723 user supplied subroutines.
724 
725 IVE uses NetCDF for the data input format, and uses the [NCAR Graphics
726 Library](http://ngwww.ucar.edu/ng/) to produce graphical output. IVE is
727 [available](http://www.atmos.washington.edu/ive/getting.html) as source
728 via anonymous ftp; and as binary on request for licensees of NCAR
729 graphics.
730 
731 JSON format with the ncdump-json utility {#JSON}
732 ---------------------------------------------------------------
733 
734 Josep Llodrà has developed a program to output the contents of a
735 netCDF-3 or netCDF-4 file in JSON (JavaScript Object Notation). It is
736 based on Unidata's NCDUMP utility, and it keeps the original ncdump
737 functionality, unless the "-j" option is used to specify JSON output.
738 
739 The program and source are available from
740 <https://github.com/jllodra/ncdump-json> .
741 
742 Java interface {#Java_interface}
743 -----------------------------------------------
744 
745 The [NetCDF-Java 4.2 Library](/software/netcdf-java/) is a Java
746 interface to netCDF files, as well as to many other types of scientific
747 data formats. It is freely available and the source code is released
748 under the (MIT-style) netCDF C library license. Previous versions use
749 the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL).
750 
751 The library implements a Common Data Model
752 ([CDM](/software/netcdf-java/CDM/)), a generalization of the netCDF,
753 OpenDAP and HDF5 data models. The library is a prototype for the
754 netCDF-4 project, which provides a C language API for the "data access
755 layer" of the CDM, on top of the HDF5 file format. The NetCDF-Java
756 library is a 100% Java framework for *reading* netCDF and other file
757 formats into the CDM, as well as *writing* to the netCDF-3 file format.
758 The library also implements
759 [NcML](http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/software/netcdf/ncml/), which allows
760 you to add metadata to CDM datasets, as well as to create virtual
761 datasets through aggregation.
762 
763 Kst (2D plotting tool) {#KST}
764 --------------------------------------------
765 
766 [Kst](http://kst-plot.kde.org) is an open-source, cross-platform 2D
767 plotting tool focused on performance and ease of use. Packages for
768 Windows, various Linux distributions and Mac OS X are
769 [available](http://sourceforge.net/projects/kst/files/), as well as the
770 complete source code and CMake-based build files. A more detailed
771 presentation of Kst can be found on the web page at
772 <http://kst-plot.kde.org>, including numerous screenshots and all the
773 useful download links.
774 
775 Kst is characterized by the following features:
776 
777 - Outstanding performance: curves with millions of points are no
778  problem
779 - Plotting of live streams
780 - Out-of-the box support for a variety of formats (currently ASCII,
781  netCDF, dirfile, Qimage-supported types, fits images)
782 - User-friendly with a modern and consistent user interface
783 - A set of unique tools to boost efficiency, including a data import
784  wizard, capacity to edit multiple objects at once or the "Change
785  Data File" tool to compare multiple experiments easily
786 - An active community
787 - Easily expandable for new data formats or data analysis algorithms
788  thanks to a plugin-based architecture
789 - Available on Windows, Linux, and Mac OSX
790 
791 Labview interface {#Labview-API}
792 -----------------------------------------------
793 
794 A netCDF Labview interface, implemented in the Labview programming
795 language is available. The software includes A graphical user interface
796 for editing netCDF data and conversion to other data formats. The
797 package was developed and is maintained by L. F. Hwang of Sun Yat-sen
798 University in China. For more information and to download the source
799 code, see the [NetCDFLabview web
800 site](https://sourceforge.net/projects/netcdflabview/).
801 
802 MBDyn (MultiBody Dynamics) #{MBDyn}
803 --------------------------------------------------
804 
805 [MBDyn](http://www.aero.polimi.it/~mbdyn/) is an open-source MultiBody
806 Dynamics analysis system developed at the Dipartimento di Ingegneria
807 Aerospaziale of the University "Politecnico di Milano", Italy. It uses
808 netCDF as its primary output format.
809 
810 MBDyn features the integrated multidisciplinary analysis of multibody,
811 multiphysics systems, including nonlinear mechanics of rigid and
812 flexible constrained bodies, smart materials, electric networks, active
813 control, hydraulic networks, essential fixed-wing and rotorcraft
814 aerodynamics. It allows users to simulate the behavior of heterogeneous
815 mechanical, aero-servo-elastic systems based on first principles
816 equations. It is being actively developed and used in the aerospace and
817 automotive fields for dynamics analysis and simulation of complex
818 systems. Dynamic linking of user-defined modules is heavily exploited to
819 let users extend the feature library.
820 
821 Max_diff_nc ${Maxdiffnc}
822 -------------------------------------------
823 
824 This is a program which compares two NetCDF files. Variables with the
825 same ID in the two files are assumed to be of the same type and have the
826 same shape. For each such couple of variables, the program computes the
827 maximum of the absolute value of the difference, and the maximum of the
828 absolute value of the relative difference. The program also tells you at
829 what location (the subscript list of the array) the maximum difference
830 is reached.
831 
832 The web page for this program is:
833 <http://web.lmd.jussieu.fr/~lglmd/Max_diff_nc>
834 
835 This is a freely available tool.
836 
837 MeteoExplorer {#MeteoExplorer}
838 ---------------------------------------------
839 
840 [MeteoExplorer](http://www.eastmodelsoft.com/index_en.htm), developed by
841 Lianqing Yu at China Meteorological Administration, is a cross-platform
842 software application for analyzing and rendering atmospheric science and
843 geoscience data. It supports popular data formats including WMO
844 GRIB1/GRIB2, NetCDF, and MICAPS, and provides basic GIS functionalities.
845 Developed with C++, Meteo Explorer targets multiple computing platforms
846 including Microsoft Windows, GNU Linux, and SGI IRIX operating systems.
847 
848 The primary features include:
849 
850 - Graphics layer management (navigation and animation)
851 - Objective analysis of physical elements in surface or upperair
852  soundings data
853 - Isoline analysis and shading of grid field
854 - Streamline analysis of wind field
855 - Computation of physics elements
856 - NetCDF data process and display
857 - GRIB1/GRIB2 data process and display
858 - MICAPS data process and display
859 - Satellite nephogram data display and animation, support AWX, GPF and
860  HDF format
861 - Interactive composition of synoptic chart (command undo/redo,
862  automatic save)
863 - Map zoom, pan, projection and clipping
864 - Full screen display and zoom to area
865 - Quick navigation via thumbnail view of graphics layers
866 - Save screen shot as image file (support formats: BMP, JPG, PNG)
867 - Vector graphics exported to clipboard or saved as EMF file (Windows
868  version only)
869 - Remote desktop connection support
870 - System configuration (dynamic menu)
871 - Fast switch of user interface language on the fly
872 
873 For more information, please visit [MeteoExplorer's home
874 page](http://www.eastmodelsoft.com/software/mexplorer.htm) or contact
875 the support staff via meteoexplorer@hotmail.com .
876 
877 MeteoInfo {#MeteoInfo}
878 -------------------------------------
879 
880 For better cross-platform support,
881 [MeteoInfo](http://www.meteothinker.com) has recently been re-developed
882 using Unidata's NetCDF Java library. MeteoInfo is GIS software for
883 visualization and analysis of spatial and meteorological data. The Java
884 edition can be run in Windows, Mac OS, Linux, and Unix systems. The
885 Groovy script engine was coupled in the software, so users can write
886 Groovy script to run the software automatically for analysis with
887 complex steps.
888 
889 Download: <http://www.meteothinker.com/>
890 
891 Java 6 is needed to run the software.
892 
893 MexEPS {#MexEPS}
894 -------------------------------
895 
896 [PMEL](http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/) has developed a MATLAB interface,
897 [MexEPS](http://www.epic.noaa.gov/epic/software/mexeps.htm), which
898 supports several netCDF file conventions, including [those adopted by
899 PMEL](ftp://ftp.unidata.ucar.edu/pub/netcdf/Conventions/PMEL-EPIC/).
900 Many styles of time axes are supported and time manipulation routines
901 ease the use of the time axis in MATLAB. The MexEPS package supports the
902 following data formats:
903 - reading, writing and editing netCDF files;
904 - reading and writing Classic EPIC files
905 - reading formatted ASCII files
906 
907 It includes:
908 - VARIABLE, AXIS, ATTRIBUTE manipulation routines
909 - TIME manipulation
910  - TIME enters MATLAB as YYMMDDhhmmss.fff
911  - Can be converted to netCDF udunits time convention (e.g. days
912  *since* 1990-01-01 00:00:00)
913 - [MATLAB help](ftp://ftp.pmel.noaa.gov/eps/mexeps/help-m/) and
914  [example scripts](ftp://ftp.pmel.noaa.gov/eps/mexeps/examples/)
915  using MexEPS
916 - **ASCII2MAT** mexFunction, which reads a formatted file into MATLAB
917  as a matrix
918 
919 The MexEPS package is freely available in PMEL's anonymous ftp directory
920 <ftp://ftp.pmel.noaa.gov/eps/mexeps/>
921 
922 If you have any questions or comments, please contact the author, Willa
923 Zhu [(willa@pmel.noaa.gov)](mailto:willa@pmel.noaa.gov) or Nancy Soreide
924 (nns@pmel.noaa.gov).
925 
926 MEXNC and SNCTOOLS {#MEXNC}
927 ------------------------------------------
928 
929 John Evans of Rutgers University maintains MEXNC and developed SNCTOOLS.
930 [MEXNC](http://mexcdf.sourceforge.net/) is a mexfile interface to NetCDF
931 files for MATLAB that has roughly a one-to-one equivalence with the C
932 API for netCDF.
933 [SNCTOOLS](http://mexcdf.sourceforge.net/tutorial/index.html) is a set
934 of higher-level m-files that sit atop MEXNC, shielding the user from
935 such low level netCDF details as file IDs, variable IDs, and dimension
936 IDs. The general philosophy behind SNCTOOLS is providing the ability to
937 read and write data without trying to invent a new syntax.
938 
939 Mirone (Windows MATLAB-based display) {#Mirone}
940 --------------------------------------------------------------
941 
942 Joaquim Luis of Universidade do Algarve has developed
943 [Mirone](http://w3.ualg.pt/~jluis/mirone/), a Windows MATLAB-based
944 framework tool that allows the display and manipulation of a large
945 number of grid/images formats through its interface with the
946 [GDAL](http://remotesensing.org/gdal/) library. Its main purpose is to
947 provide users with an easy-to-use graphical interface to manipulate
948 [GMT](http://gmt.soest.hawaii.edu/) grids. In addition it offers a wide
949 range of tools dedicated to topics in the earth sciences, including
950 tools for multibeam mission planning, elastic deformation studies,
951 tsunami propagation modeling, earth magnetic field computations and
952 magnetic Parker inversions, Euler rotations and poles computations,
953 plate tectonic reconstructions, and seismicity and focal mechanism
954 plotting. The high quality mapping and cartographic capabilities for
955 which GMT is renowned is guaranteed through Mirone's ability to
956 automatically generate GMT cshell scripts and dos batch files.
957 
958 Although Mirone is written in MATLAB, a stand-alone version to run under
959 Windows is also provided. Regrettably this version is not as efficient
960 as the native MATLAB code but provides a solution for users that don't
961 have MATLAB.
962 
963 Also see\
964  J. F. Luis. Mirone: A multi-purpose tool for exploring grid data.
965 Computers & Geosciences, 33, 31-41, 2007.
966 
967 ncBrowse {#ncBrowse}
968 -----------------------------------
969 
970 Donald Denbo of NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory has
971 developed and made available
972 [ncBrowse](http://www.epic.noaa.gov/java/ncBrowse), a Java application
973 (JDK1.2) that provides flexible, interactive graphical displays of data
974 and attributes from a wide range of netCDF data file conventions.
975 Features include:
976 
977 - Designed to work with arbitrary netCDF files.
978 - Browses file using the EPIC and COARDS conventions.
979 - Provides a "tree" view of the netCDF file.
980 - Handles character variables.
981 - Handles dimensions without an associated variable.
982 - Uses sgt graphics to perform 1 and 2 dimensional cuts through data.
983 - Save to file single variable as a "cdl" text file.
984 - InstallAnywhere scripts for UNIX, Win32, and MacOS.
985 - Currently uses Java 2 and Swing.
986 
987 ncBrowse will run on any UNIX or Windows machine with a Java 2 (JDK1.2)
988 virtual machine installed. Automated installation scripts are available
989 for Windows and UNIX. Additional information on ncBrowse and download
990 instructions are available at <http://www.epic.noaa.gov/java/ncBrowse>.
991 
992 Questions and suggestions should be directed to
993 <[dwd@pmel.noaa.gov>](mailto:dwd@pmel.noaa.gov). If you have problems
994 reading a netCDF file with ncBrowse, please send him a copy of the file
995 and he'll get ncBrowse to read it!
996 
997 nccmp {#nccmp}
998 -----------------------------
999 
1000 Remik Ziemlinski of the NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory has
1001 developed [nccmp](http://nccmp.sourceforge.net/), a tool to compare two
1002 netCDF files. It can use MPI, include/exclude specific variables or
1003 metadata and operates quickly. Highly recommended for regression testing
1004 with large datasets. See the Web site <http://nccmp.sourceforge.net/>
1005 for more information.
1006 
1007 NCL {#NCL}
1008 -------------------------
1009 
1010 The [NCAR Command Language (NCL)](http://www.ncl.ucar.edu/) is an
1011 intepreted programming language for scientific data analysis and
1012 visualization developed and maintained in NCAR's [Computational and
1013 Information Systems Laboratory](http://www.cisl.ucar.edu/).
1014 
1015 NCL has many features common to modern programming languages, including
1016 types, variables, operators, expressions, conditional statements, loops,
1017 and functions and procedures. NCL also has features that are not found
1018 in other programming languages, including those that handle the
1019 manipulation of metadata, the configuration of visualizations, the
1020 import of data from a variety of data formats, and an algebra that
1021 supports array operations.
1022 
1023 NCL has robust file input and output capabilities. It allows different
1024 datasets of different formats (netCDF, netCDF-4 classic, HDF4, HDF4-EOS,
1025 GRIB-1, and GRIB-2) to be imported into one uniform and consistent data
1026 manipulation environment, which internally is the netCDF data format.
1027 NCL doesn't place any restrictions or conventions on the organization of
1028 input netCDF files.
1029 
1030 NCL comes with many useful built-in functions and procedures for
1031 processing and manipulating data. There are over 600 functions and
1032 procedures that include routines for use specifically with climate and
1033 model data, empirical orthogonal functions, Fourier coefficients,
1034 wavelets, singular value decomposition, 1-, 2-, and 3-dimensional
1035 interpolation, approximation, and regridding, and computer analysis of
1036 scalar and vector global geophysical quantities.
1037 
1038 The visualizations are publication-quality and highly customizable, with
1039 hundreds of options available for tweaking the looks of your graphics.
1040 NCL can generate contours, XY plots, vectors, streamlines, and can
1041 overlay these plots on many different map projections. There are also
1042 specialized functions for generating histograms, wind roses, meteograms,
1043 skew-T plots, weather maps.
1044 
1045 Included with the software are two command line tools: "ncl\_convert2nc"
1046 for converting GRIB-1/2 or HDF files to netCDF files, and
1047 "ncl\_filedump" which will dump the contents of a file format that NCL
1048 recognizes (netCDF, GRIB-1/2, HDF, etc).
1049 
1050 NCL is available under an open source license or in binary form for
1051 several popular UNIX platforms, including (but not limited to) Linux,
1052 MacOSX, and Windows/Cygwin.
1053 
1054 Documentation and additional information on NCL are available from the
1055 [NCL website](http://www.ncl.ucar.edu/), which contains hundreds of
1056 [application examples](http://www.ncl.ucar.edu/Applications/) for one to
1057 download. You can also contact Mary Haley, at <haley@ucar.edu> for more
1058 information.
1059 
1060 NCO {#NCO}
1061 -------------------------
1062 
1063 [NCO](http://nco.sourceforge.net) (netCDF operators) is a package of
1064 command line operators that work on generic netCDF or HDF4 files:
1065 - ncap2 - arithmetic processor
1066 - ncatted - attribute editor
1067 - ncbo - binary operator
1068 - ncdiff - differencer
1069 - ncea - ensemble averager
1070 - ncecat - ensemble concatenator
1071 - ncflint - file interpolator
1072 - ncks - kitchen sink (extract, cut, paste, print data)
1073 - ncpdq - permute dimensions quickly
1074 - ncra - running averager
1075 - ncrcat - record concatenator
1076 - ncrename - renamer
1077 - ncwa - weighted averager
1078 
1079 All operators may now be [OPeNDAP](http://www.opendap.org) clients. OPeNDAP
1080 enables network transparent data access to any OPeNDAP server. Thus
1081 OPeNDAP-enabled NCO can operate on remote files accessible through any
1082 OPeNDAP server without transferring the files. Only the required data
1083 (e.g., the variable or hyperslab specified) are transferred.
1084 
1085 The source code is freely available from the [NCO home
1086 page](http://nco.sourceforge.net/), as is the NCO User's Guide.
1087 
1088 For more information, contact the author, Charlie Zender.
1089 
1090 ncregrid {#ncregrid}
1091 -----------------------------------
1092 
1093 Patrick Jöckel of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry has developed
1094 **ncregrid**, a tool (written in FORTRAN-90) for data transfer of
1095 gridded 2- and 3-dimensional (spatial) geophysical/geochemical scalar
1096 fields between grids of different resolutions. The algorithm handles
1097 data on rectangular latitude/longitude grids (not necessarily evenly
1098 spaced) and vertical pressure hybrid grids of arbitrary resolution. The
1099 input/output data format is netCDF. ncregrid is freely available without
1100 any warranty under the GNU public license (GPL). ncregrid can be used as
1101 a "stand-alone" program, and/or linked as an interface to a model, in
1102 order to re-grid automatically the input from an arbitrary grid space
1103 onto the required grid resolution.
1104 
1105 More information is available on the web-page:
1106 <http://www.mpch-mainz.mpg.de/~joeckel/ncregrid/index.html>.
1107 
1108 nctoolbox (a MATLAB common data model interface) {#nctoolbox}
1109 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1110 
1111 [nctoolbox](http://nctoolbox.github.io/nctoolbox/) is a MATLAB interface
1112 that provides read-only access to [Common Data
1113 Model](/software/netcdf-java/CDM/index.html) datasets. Under the hood,
1114 nctoolbox uses Unidata's NetCDF-Java as the data access layer. This
1115 allows nctoolbox to access to netCDF, OPeNDAP, HDF5, GRIB, GRIB2, HDF4,
1116 and many (15+) other file formats and services using the same API. It
1117 works with MATLAB 2008a and later. The nctoolbox software was developed
1118 by Brian Schlining (MBARI), Rich Signell (USGS), Sachin Kumar Bhate
1119 (freelance), and Alex Crosby (RPS/ASA).
1120 
1121 ncdx {#ncdx}
1122 ---------------------------
1123 
1124 Patrick Jöckel of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry has developed
1125 **ncdx**, a tool (written in FORTRAN-90) that scans a netCDF file and
1126 makes it [OpenDX](#OpenDX) compliant. ncdx is freely available without
1127 any warranty under the GNU public license (GPL). More information is
1128 available on the web-page:
1129 <http://www.mpch-mainz.mpg.de/~joeckel/ncdx/index.html>.
1130 
1131 ncensemble {#ncensemble}
1132 ---------------------------------------
1133 
1134 Alan Iwi, of Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, offers this command line
1135 ensemble statistics utility. More information is available on the
1136 web-page: <http://home.badc.rl.ac.uk/iwi/ncensemble/>.
1137 
1138 ncview {#ncview}
1139 -------------------------------
1140 
1141 [Ncview](http://meteora.ucsd.edu/~pierce/ncview_home_page.html) is a
1142 visual browser for netCDF files. Typically you would use ncview to get a
1143 quick and easy, push-button look at your netCDF files. You can view
1144 simple movies of the data, view along various dimensions, take a look at
1145 the actual data values, change color maps, invert the data, etc. It runs
1146 on UNIX platforms under X11, R4 or higher. For more information, check
1147 out the [README](http://meteora.ucsd.edu/~pierce/docs/ncview.README)
1148 file; you can also see a representative [screen
1149 image](http://meteora.ucsd.edu/~pierce/docs/ncview.gif) (GIF, 66K) of
1150 ncview in action.
1151 The source may be downloaded from <ftp://cirrus.ucsd.edu/pub/ncview/>.
1152 For more information, please contact the author, David W. Pierce at
1153 <dpierce@ucsd.edu>.
1154 
1155 netcdf4-js {#netcdf4-js}
1156 -------------------------------
1157 [netcdf4-js](https://www.npmjs.com/package/netcdf4) is a NodeJS addon for reading and writing the files in the Network Common Data Form (NetCDF) version <= 4, built upon the C-library for netcdf. It isavailable from npmjs at the link above, or directly from the [GitHub Repository](https://github.com/swillner/netcdf4-js).
1158 
1159 NetCDF Toolbox for MATLAB-5 {#matlab5}
1160 ----------------------------------------------------
1161 
1162 The [NetCDF Toolbox for MATLAB-5](http://mexcdf.sourceforge.net/),
1163 originally developed by Charles R. Denham, combined netCDF-3 with
1164 [MATLAB](http://www.mathworks.com/products/matlab/) to form an interface
1165 that used MATLAB operator-syntax for arithmetic, logical, and
1166 subscripting operations on netCDF entities. The NetCDF Toolbox is in
1167 bug-fix-only mode, and is maintained by John.G.Evans.NE@gmail.com, on
1168 the [MEXNC, SNCTOOLS, and the NetCDF Toolbox](http://mexcdf.sf.net) web
1169 page.
1170 
1171 ncvtk {#ncvtk}
1172 -----------------------------
1173 
1174 [Ncvtk](http://ncvtk.sourceforge.net/) is a program for exploring
1175 planetary data stored in a NetCDF file. The NetCDF file should loosely
1176 follow the [CF metadata
1177 conventions](http://www.cgd.ucar.edu/cms/eaton/cf-metadata/).
1178 
1179 Ncvtk was designed from the ground up with the aim of offering a high
1180 degree of interactivity to scientists who have a need to explore
1181 structured, three-dimensional, time-dependent climate data on the
1182 sphere. A graphical user interface allows users to interact with their
1183 data via color/transparency/contour/vector plots, apply vertical slices,
1184 probe data, apply an external sun light, overlay hydrographic and
1185 geopolitical data, rotate, zoom, etc. with minimal fuss.
1186 
1187 Ncvtk is written in python and is based on the [Visualization Toolkit
1188 (VTK)](http://public.kitware.com/VTK/). Like python and VTK, Ncvtk is
1189 highly portable and known to run on Windows and Linux (i386, ia64,
1190 EMT64) platforms. More information about Ncvtk is available at
1191 <http://ncvtk.sourceforge.net>.
1192 
1193 Ivan Shmakov's netcdf tools {#netcdf_tools}
1194 ----------------------------------------------------------
1195 
1196 The NetCDF tools is a free software package consisting of a few tools
1197 operating on NetCDF and, by utilizing the compatibility API, HDF4 files,
1198 which are intended to be usable from Shell scripts.
1199 
1200 The currently packaged tools are:
1201 
1202 - a couple of simple shell wrappers over the respective NetCDF
1203  functions (ncattget and ncattput);
1204 - a more sophisticated ncget tool.
1205 
1206 The ncget tool implements functionalilty that is similar to hdp dumpsds
1207 (for NetCDF, which lacks such a tool), or complements it in the case of
1208 HDF4. It can be seen as a complement to the ncdump tool (included in
1209 both the NetCDF and HDF4 distributions) as well.
1210 
1211 This tool allows a selected part of a NetCDF variable or an HDF4
1212 scientific data set (SDS) to be extracted in either an ASCII or binary
1213 form, applying the transformation specified by the usual scale\_factor
1214 and add\_offset attributes. It allows one to feed the data contained in
1215 NetCDF variables (or HDF4 SDS) to the tools designed to operate on
1216 either ASCII (text) or raw (binary) data.
1217 
1218 This version of the package is the first one to be announced to the
1219 public. It has some known bugs and limitations, but it's proved to be
1220 quite usable. A [project
1221 page](http://freshmeat.net/projects/netcdf-tools) on freshmeat.net. The
1222 [source](http://waterlily.siamics.net/~ivan/src/netcdf-tools-0.1-rc1.tar.gz)
1223 is also available.
1224 
1225 netcdf4excel (add-in for MS Excel) {#netcdf4excel}
1226 -----------------------------------------------------------------
1227 
1228 Alexander Bruhns has developed [a netCDF add-in written in Visual Basic
1229 for MS Excel](http://code.google.com/p/netcdf4excel/). This add-in
1230 simplifies the use of NetCDF data in Excel, providing a ready to use
1231 solution for manipulating this type of data.
1232 
1233 For developers, the open-source (GPL V3 license) can be downloaded
1234 directly or checked out with Mercurial.
1235 
1236 The add-in is written in VBA 6.0 (so it won't work with Office 2010 64
1237 bits) and is designed for Excel 2007 running with the Microsoft Windows
1238 operating system. It supports opening netCDF classic format data with
1239 Excel for read or write access.
1240 
1241 More details are available on the [netcdf4excel web
1242 site](http://code.google.com/p/netcdf4excel/).
1243 
1244 NetCDF95 alternative Fortran API {#netcdf95}
1245 -----------------------------------------------------------
1246 
1247 Lionel Guez has developed and made feely available
1248 [NetCDF95](http://web.lmd.jussieu.fr/~lglmd/NetCDF95), a new alternative
1249 Fortran interface to the NetCDF library. Compared to the
1250 Unidata-provided Fortran 90 netCDF interface, the NetCDF95 interface is
1251 meant to be easier to use and more secure.
1252 
1253 Objective-C API {#Objective-C}
1254 ---------------------------------------------
1255 
1256 Tom Moore has an Objective-C API, available here:
1257 [www.paleoterra.com/software](http://www.paleoterra.com/software). The
1258 netCDF Framework is an open source (Argonne Open Source License) MacOSX
1259 application framework that provides an Objective-C interface to the NCAR
1260 netCDF library version 3. The framework is available both as source code
1261 and universal compiles (works on both PPC and Intel macs). The source
1262 code has also been compiled by users for the GNUStep environment.
1263 Version 2 of the framework will provide classes for accessing multiple
1264 netCDF files, working with in-memory data slabs using standard notation,
1265 and some support for multithreading.
1266 
1267 ### Mark Tracy's Objective-C API
1268 
1269 Mark Tracy has written [NetcdfStep](http://www.mt-se.com/nc_1.html), an
1270 Objective-C API for netCDF that uses Objective-C Foundation Classes.
1271 
1272 NetcdfStep is framework for using the netCDF library in object-oriented
1273 programming with Objective-C. It now supports the full functionality of
1274 netCDF 3.6.2.
1275 
1276 A [complete Mac OS X
1277 distribution](http://www.mt-se.com/pub/NetcdfStep-1.0.2.zip) including
1278 pre-built static library and [online
1279 documentation](http://www.mt-se.com/netcdfstep_doc/) are available.
1280 Applications linked to this framework have no external dependencies
1281 (other than Mac OS X itself). A [source-code only
1282 distribution](http://www.mt-se.com/pub/NetcdfStep-GNUstep-0.6.1.tar.gz)
1283 synced up to version 0.6.1 is available for GNUstep for use on Linux and
1284 other Unix platforms.
1285 
1286 Octave interface {#NCMEX}
1287 ----------------------------------------
1288 
1289 The ARM Program has contributed NCMEX for Octave, a port of Chuck
1290 Denham's MATLAB NCMEX to [Octave](http://www.octave.org). The calling
1291 syntax is identical, so scripts using NCMEX in MATLAB should in theory
1292 be portable to Octave. In order to build NCMEX, a compiled C NetCDF
1293 library must already be installed.
1294 
1295 In addition to the base NetCDF library interface, this package includes
1296 a simple toolbox to automate the reading and writing of NetCDf files
1297 within Octave using NCMEX. These tools as well as the source for NCMEX
1298 are available from
1299 <http://engineering.arm.gov/~sbeus/octavex/octavex.tar> (NOTE: this .tar
1300 file contains other Octave extension functions besides NCMEX.)
1301 
1302 Also see [Octcdf](http://ocgmod1.marine.usf.edu/octcdf/), a netCDF
1303 toolbox for Octave.
1304 
1305 For installation instructions, see the README file inside the .tar file.
1306 
1307 Octave interface (Barth) {#Octave}
1308 -------------------------------------------------
1309 
1310 Alexander Barth has contributed the following:
1311 
1312 Octcdf is a netCDF toolbox for [Octave](http://www.octave.org/) which
1313 uses the same operator syntax as the [matlab netCDF
1314 toolbox](http://mexcdf.sourceforge.net/netcdf_toolbox.html) of Charles
1315 R. Denham. NetCDF dimensions, attributes and variables are Octave
1316 objects and can be accessed, sliced and changed just as regular
1317 variables. Unlike most netCDF toolboxes for matlab, it does not depend
1318 on the NCMEX wrapper around the netCDF interface. This octave toolbox is
1319 written in C++ calling directly the netCDF library. The octcdf toolbox
1320 can also be used to download data from an OpenDAP server. The octcdf
1321 source code is available at
1322 <http://modb.oce.ulg.ac.be/mediawiki/index.php/NetCDF_toolbox_for_Octave>.
1323 It was also included in the Octave Repository
1324 [octave-forge](http://octave.sourceforge.net/).
1325 
1326 OPeNDAP (formerly DODS) {#OPeNDAP}
1327 -------------------------------------------------
1328 
1329 The [OPeNDAP](http://opendap.org/) (formerly known as DODS) is an
1330 Open-source Project for a Network Data Access Protocol that makes local
1331 data and subsets of local data accessible to remote locations
1332 independent of the local storage format. OPeNDAP also provides tools for
1333 transforming existing applications into OPeNDAP clients, enabling them
1334 to remotely access OPeNDAP served data. OPeNDAP is based on existing
1335 data access tools; rather than developing a self contained system, it
1336 makes extensive use of existing data access APIs.
1337 
1338 OPeNDAP can be used to make netCDF data files available over the
1339 Internet and it can also be used to adapt existing software which use
1340 the netCDF API (by re-linking) to read data served by an OPeNDAP data
1341 server. In principle, any program written using netCDF can be adapted to
1342 read data from an OPeNDAP server - in other words any program which uses
1343 netCDF can become a client in the OPeNDAP client-server system. Included
1344 in the source and binary distributions are two freely available programs
1345 that have already been modified (re-linked).
1346 
1347 With a client program accessing data from a netCDF server, it is
1348 possible to access a small subset of a large dataset over the Internet
1349 without copying the entire dataset (as you would have to do with FTP or
1350 AFS). The client can see changes to the netCDF dataset, e.g. when new
1351 records are added (which would not be possible with FTP). Finally, the
1352 client can also access cross-sections of variable data without paging
1353 large amounts of data across the network (as you would have to do with
1354 NFS, for example).
1355 
1356 OPeNDAP software is freely available in both source form or binary form
1357 for selected platforms.
1358 
1359 OpenDX {#OpenDX}
1360 -------------------------------
1361 
1362 [OpenDX](http://www.opendx.org/about.html) (formerly IBM Data Explorer,
1363 also known as simply DX) is a general-purpose software package for data
1364 visualization and analysis. It employs a data-flow driven client-server
1365 execution model and provides a graphical program editor that allows the
1366 user to create a visualization using a point and click interface.
1367 DX runs on 7 major UNIX platforms as well as Windows 95/NT and is
1368 designed to take full advantage of multi-processor systems from IBM, SGI
1369 and Sun.
1370 
1371 DX is built upon an internal data model, which describes and provides
1372 uniform access services for any data brought into, generated by, or
1373 exported from the software. This data model supports a number of
1374 different classes of scientific data, which can be described by their
1375 shape (size and number of dimensions), rank (e.g., scalar, vector,
1376 tensor), type (float, integer, byte, etc. or real, complex, quaternion),
1377 where the data are located in space (positions), how the locations are
1378 related to each other (connections), aggregates or groups (e.g.,
1379 hierarchies, series, composites, multizone grids, etc.). It also
1380 supports those entities required for graphics and imaging operations
1381 within the context of Data Explorer. Regular and irregular, deformed or
1382 curvilinear, structured and unstructured data as well as "missing" or
1383 invalid data are supported.
1384 
1385 The details of the data model are hidden at the user level. As a result
1386 DX operations or modules are polymorphic and appear typeless. The DX
1387 Import module, which reads data for use within Data Explorer directly
1388 utilizes data in netCDF as well as other formats (e.g., HDF, CDF). One
1389 or more variables may be selected as well as step(s) of a time series.
1390 Data in conventional netCDFs are directly imported. Since the DX data
1391 model is more comprehensive than the netCDF data model, a methodology to
1392 extend netCDF via attribute conventions (e.g., for unstructured meshes,
1393 non-scalar data and hierarchies) for use with Data Explorer is
1394 available.
1395 
1396 DX supports a number of realization techniques for generating renderable
1397 geometry from data. These include color and opacity mapping (e.g., for
1398 surface and volume rendering), contours and isosurfaces, histograms,
1399 two-dimensional and three-dimensional plotting, surface deformation,
1400 etc. for scalar data. For vector data, arrow plots, streamlines,
1401 streaklines, etc. are provided. Realizations may be annotated with
1402 ribbons, tubes, axes, glyphs, text and display of data locations, meshes
1403 and boundaries. Data probing, picking, arbitrary surface and volume
1404 sampling, and arbitrary cutting/mapping planes are supported.
1405 
1406 DX supports a number of non-graphical functions such as point-wise
1407 mathematical expressions (e.g., arithmetic, transcendental, boolean,
1408 type conversion, etc.), univariate statistics and image processing
1409 (e.g., transformation, filter, warp, edge detection, convolution,
1410 equalization, blending, morphological operations, etc.). Field/vector
1411 operations such as divergence, gradient and curl, dot and cross
1412 products, etc. are provided. Non-gridded or scattered data may be
1413 interpolated to an arbitrary grid or triangulated, depending on the
1414 analysis requirements. The length, area or volume of various geometries
1415 may also be computed. Tools for data manipulation such as removal of
1416 data points, subsetting by position, sub/supersampling, grid
1417 construction, mapping, interpolation, regridding, transposition, etc.
1418 are available.
1419 
1420 Tools for doing cartographic projections and registration as well as
1421 earth, space and environmental sciences examples are available at
1422 Cornell University via info.tc.cornell.edu. Also see the [ncdx](#ncdx)
1423 tool for making netCDF files OpenDX compliant.
1424 
1425 Panoply {#Panoply}
1426 ---------------------------------
1427 
1428 [Panoply](http://www.giss.nasa.gov/tools/panoply/) is an application
1429 that plots geo-gridded and other arrays from netCDF, HDF, GRIB, and
1430 other datasets. Features include:
1431 
1432 - Slice and plot geo-gridded latitude-longitude, latitude-vertical,
1433  longitude-vertical, or time-latitude arrays from larger
1434  multidimensional variables.
1435 - Two arrays may be combined in one plot by differencing, summing, or
1436  averaging.
1437 - Lon-lat data may be plotted as global maps (using any of over 75 map
1438  projections) or as zonal average plots.
1439 - Overlay continent outlines or masks on lon-lat plots.
1440 - Use your favorite CPT, GGR, PAL, or ACT color table for scale
1441  colorbar.
1442 - Save plots to disk in GIF, JPEG, PNG or TIFF bitmap images or as PDF
1443  or PostScript graphics files.
1444 - Export lon-lat map plots in KMZ format.
1445 - Export animations as AVI or MOV video or as a collection of
1446  invididual frame images.
1447 - Explore remote THREDDS and OpenDAP catalogs and open datasets served
1448  from them.
1449 
1450 Panoply requires that your computer have a Java SE 6 runtime
1451 environment, or better, installed.
1452 
1453 Panoply is developed at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies.
1454 Questions and suggestions should be directed to [Dr. Robert B.
1455 Schmunk](http://www.giss.nasa.gov/staff/rschmunk.html).
1456 
1457 Parallel-NetCDF {#Parallel-NetCDF}
1458 -------------------------------------------------
1459 
1460 A group of researchers at Northwestern University and Argonne National
1461 Laboratory (Jianwei Li, Wei-keng Liao, Alok Choudhary, Robert Ross,
1462 Rajeev Thakur, William Gropp, and Rob Latham) have designed and
1463 implemented a new [parallel interface for writing and reading netCDF
1464 data](http://www.mcs.anl.gov/parallel-netcdf/), tailored for use on high
1465 performance platforms with parallel I/O. The implementation builds on
1466 the MPI-IO interface, providing portability to most platforms in use and
1467 allowing users to leverage the many optimizations built into MPI-IO
1468 implementations. Testing so far has been on Linux platforms with ROMIO
1469 and IBM SP machines using IBM's MPI.
1470 
1471 Documentation and code for Parallel-NetCDF is now available for testing.
1472 Although a few interfaces are not implemented yet, the current
1473 implementation is complete enough to provide significant I/O performance
1474 improvements on parallel platforms, as described in a [technical
1475 report](ftp://info.mcs.anl.gov/pub/tech_reports/reports/P1048.pdf).
1476 Users are invited to test Parallel-NetCDF in their applications.
1477 
1478 Paraview and vtkCSCSNetCDF {#Paraview}
1479 -----------------------------------------------------
1480 
1481 <http://www.paraview.org/>
1482 
1483 ParaView is an application designed with the need to visualize large
1484 data sets in mind. The goals of the ParaView project include the
1485 following:
1486 
1487 - Develop an open-source, multi-platform visualization application.
1488 - Support distributed computation models to process large data sets.
1489 - Create an open, flexible, and intuitive user interface.
1490 - Develop an extensible architecture based on open standards.
1491 
1492 ParaView runs on distributed and shared memory parallel as well as
1493 single processor systems and has been successfully tested on Windows,
1494 Linux and various Unix workstations and clusters. Under the hood,
1495 ParaView uses the Visualization Toolkit as the data processing and
1496 rendering engine and has a user interface written using a unique blend
1497 of Tcl/Tk and C++.
1498 
1499 A vtk/ParaView reader for netCDF files can be found here.
1500 
1501 Perl interfaces {#Perl}
1502 --------------------------------------
1503 
1504 There are two netCDF interfaces for Perl:
1505 - [PDL::NetCDF](http://search.cpan.org/~dhunt/PDL-NetCDF-4.05/netcdf.pd),
1506  Doug Hunt's perl interface which uses the PDL (perl data language)
1507  extension.
1508 - [NetCDFPerl](/software/netcdf-perl/), Steve Emmerson's extension
1509  module, based on version 2 of the netCDF package. Uses perl lists
1510  for representing netCDF variables.
1511 
1512 PolyPaint+ {#PolyPaint}
1513 ---------------------------------------
1514 
1515 [PolyPaint+](http://lasp.colorado.edu/polypaint/home.html) is an
1516 interactive scientific visualization tool that displays complex
1517 structures within three-dimensional data fields. It provides both color
1518 shaded-surface display and simple volumetric rendering in either index
1519 or true color. For shaded surface rendering, the PolyPaint+ routines
1520 first compute the polygon set that describes a desired surface within
1521 the 3D data volume. These polygons are then rendered as continuously
1522 shaded surfaces. PolyPaint+ contains a wide variety of options that
1523 control lighting, viewing, and shading. Objects rendered volumetrically
1524 may be viewed along with shaded surfaces. Additional data sets can be
1525 overlaid on shaded surfaces by color coding the data according to a
1526 specified color ramp. 3D visualizations can be viewed in stereo for
1527 added depth perspective.
1528 Currently supported 3D visualizations are the following:
1529 
1530 - Shaded isosurface
1531 - Transparent contour shells or isosurfaces at varying levels
1532 - Volumetric or density plot
1533 - Planes
1534 - Contour ribbons
1535 - Topographic surface from 2D geographic data sets
1536 
1537 3D data volumes may be sliced in the X, Y, or Z plane using an
1538 interactive cutting plane. A cross section of the data volume can be
1539 viewed in a 2D window as a 2D contour plot, a vector plot, a raster
1540 image or a combination of these options superimposed. Map outlines can
1541 be used as a background for 2D cross section plots of geographic data.
1542 All data is projected according to the coordinates specified by the user
1543 for the cross section window.
1544 
1545 The user interface provides direct manipulation tools for specifying the
1546 eye position, center of view, light sources, and color ramps. Subsetting
1547 of data can be done easily by selecting the data by index or geographic
1548 coordinate. On-line contextual help provides easy access to more detail
1549 about the software. Tutorials which range from very simple
1550 visualizations to complex combinations of data sets provide the user
1551 with a quick learning tool.
1552 
1553 Currently PolyPaint+ accepts only data which is in the NetCDF file
1554 format. A file conversion utility which converts from raw binary data to
1555 netCDf is a part of the application.
1556 
1557 PolyPaint+ is a joint effort of the University of Colorado and NCAR
1558 (National Center for Atmospheric Research) funded by the NASA AISRP
1559 program. A beta version of PolyPaint+ is currently available free of
1560 charge using FTP or for a nominal fee which would cover tape
1561 distribution. A license agreement must be signed in order to use it.
1562 
1563 You may order by...
1564 
1565 - TELEPHONE : 303-492-7289 (Margi Klemp) : 303-497-8159 (Bill Boyd)
1566 - U.S. MAIL :
1567 
1568  Margi Klemp
1569  University of Colorado / LASP
1570  1234 Innovation Dr.
1571  Boulder, CO 80303
1572  USA
1573 
1574 - E-MAIL : margi@aries.colorado.edu
1575 
1576 Pomegranate {#Pomegranate}
1577 -----------------------------------------
1578 
1579 The P9E Team at NASA JPL has developed
1580 [Pomegranate](http://pomegranate.jpl.nasa.gov/), a python application
1581 that "webifies" science data files. Supported formats include netCDF,
1582 HDF4, HDF5, GRIB and FITS.
1583 
1584 Pomegranate can be installed on web servers as either a WSGI or CGI
1585 application to provide webification (w10n) services. To learn more about
1586 w10n of science data files, please visit <http://webification.org/>. A
1587 brief [help](http://pomegranate.jpl.nasa.gov/test/help.txt) document
1588 describes how to use the [demo
1589 directory](http://pomegranate.jpl.nasa.gov/test) to browse or download
1590 metadata or data in netCDF, JSON, or other formats by clicking on data
1591 folder and document icons.
1592 
1593 Pomegranate can also be used as a standalone library or command line
1594 application. This greatly simplifies the retrieval of metadata and data
1595 from files in supported formats.
1596 
1597 Pomegranate is open source software and can be downloaded from
1598 <http://www.openchannelsoftware.com/projects/Pomegranate/>.
1599 
1600 PyNGL and PyNIO {#PyNGL}
1601 ---------------------------------------
1602 
1603 NCAR's Computational and Information Systems Laboratory has developed
1604 [PyNGL](http://www.pyngl.ucar.edu/), a python package for scientific
1605 visualization and data analysis and
1606 [PyNIO](http://www.pyngl.ucar.edu/Nio.shtml), a Python package
1607 supporting access to a variety of data formats using an interface
1608 modelled on netCDF.
1609 
1610 Python interfaces {#Python}
1611 ------------------------------------------
1612 
1613 Python is an interpreted, object-oriented language that is supported on
1614 a wide range of hardware and operating systems. Python information and
1615 sources can be obtained from <http://www.python.org/>. There are now
1616 several netCDF interfaces for Python.
1617 
1618 Jeff Whitaker of the NOAA Earth System Research Lab has developed a
1619 netCDF-4 module for python: <http://code.google.com/p/netcdf4-python/>.
1620 Most new features of netCDF-4 are implemented, such as multiple
1621 unlimited dimensions, groups and zlib data compression. All the new
1622 numeric data types (such as 64-bit and unsigned integer types) are
1623 implemented. Compound and variable length (vlen) data types are
1624 supported, but the enum and opaque data types are not. Mixtures of
1625 compound and vlen data types (compound types containing vlens, and vlens
1626 containing compound types) are not supported.
1627 
1628 [xray](#xray) is a higher-level interface that uses netcdf4-python
1629 internally to implement a pandas-like package for N-D labelled arrays
1630 for scientific data.
1631 
1632 André Gosselin of the Institut Maurice-Lamontagne, Péches & Océans
1633 Canada, has implemented pycdf, a new Python interface to the netCDF
1634 library. It is available from <http://pysclint.sourceforge.net/pycdf/>,
1635 where you will find the install files, installation instructions,
1636 extensive documentation in text and html format, and examples. pycdf
1637 requires the Numeric python package, and installs through the simple
1638 "python setyp.py install" command.
1639 
1640 Bill Noon (noon@snow.cit.cornell.edu) has implemented another netCDF
1641 Python module that allows easy creation, access, and browsing of netCDF
1642 data. The bindings also use the [udunits library](/software/udunits/) to
1643 do unit conversions. More information and source for Noon's Python
1644 netCDF module are available from
1645 <http://snow.cit.cornell.edu/noon/ncmodule.html>.
1646 
1647 The package from Konrad Hinsen has been integrated into his
1648 [ScientificPython](https://sourcesup.cru.fr/projects/scientific-py/)
1649 package.
1650 
1651 Dave Brown of NCAR's Computational and Information Systems Laboratory
1652 has developed [PyNIO](http://www.pyngl.ucar.edu/Nio.shtml), a Python
1653 package that allows read and/or write access to a variety of data
1654 formats using an interface modelled on netCDF. Currently supported
1655 formats include netCDF, HDF4, GRIB1 and GRIB2 (read only), and HDF-EOS 2
1656 Grid and Swath data (read only).
1657 
1658 Vicente Galiano of Miguel Hernandez University has developed a Python
1659 interface to PnetCDF. This Python's package called "PyPnetCDF" allows
1660 access to NetCDF files using MPI and the library pnetCDF developed by
1661 http://www.mcs.anl.gov/parallel-netcdf/. The tools are very similar to
1662 Konrad Hinsen's NetCDF package to Python but can read and write in a
1663 parallel way. For more information, see:
1664 <http://www.pyacts.org/pypnetcdf>.
1665 
1666 Pupynere (PUre PYthon NEtcdf REader) Roberto
1667 De Almeida has developed
1668 [pupynere](http://pypi.python.org/pypi/pupynere/), a PUre PYthon NEtcdf
1669 REader that allows read-access to netCDF files using the same syntax as
1670 the Scientific.IO.NetCDF Python module. Even though it's written in
1671 Python, the module is up to 40% faster than Scientific.IO.NetCDF and
1672 pynetcdf.
1673 
1674 R interface {#R}
1675 -------------------------------
1676 
1677 The R Project for Statistical Computing has developed
1678 [R](http://www.R-project.org/), a language and environment for
1679 statistical computing and graphics. It provides a wide variety of
1680 statistical and graphical techniques, including linear and nonlinear
1681 modelling, statistical tests, time series analysis, classification, and
1682 clustering.
1683 
1684 David Pierce has contributed the [ncdf4
1685 package](http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/ncdf4/index.html) for
1686 reading netCDF data into R and for creating new netCDF dimensions,
1687 variables, and files, or manipulating existing netCDF files from R.
1688 
1689 Pavel Michna has contributed another package,
1690 [RNetCDF](http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/RNetCDF/index.html),
1691 that also provides access to netCDF data and to udunits calendar
1692 functions from R.
1693 
1694 Robert Hijmans (with additional contributors) has created the [R raster
1695 package](http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/raster/index.html) for
1696 geographic data analysis and modeling. The raster package can be used
1697 for reading, writing, manipulating, analyzing and modeling gridded
1698 spatial data. The package is especially useful for large datasets that
1699 don't fit into memory, because data is processed in chunks. See
1700 [Introduction to the 'raster'
1701 package](http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/raster/vignettes/Raster.pdf)
1702 for more information.
1703 
1704 Quantum GIS (QGIS) {#QGIS}
1705 -----------------------------------------
1706 
1707 [Quantum GIS](http://www.qgis.org/) (QGIS) is an Open Source Geographic
1708 Information System (GIS) licensed under the GNU General Public License.
1709 QGIS is an official project of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation
1710 (OSGeo). It runs on Linux, Unix, Mac OSX, and Windows and supports
1711 numerous vector, raster, and database formats and functionalities. QGIS
1712 supports a desktop, browser, server, and client for viewing, editing,
1713 analysis, serving, and accessing data. Its server complies with the OGC
1714 WMS 1.3 standard. In addition to PostGIS and SpatiaLite formats, it can
1715 access data in vector formats supported by the OGR library as well as
1716 most raster formats supported by the GDAL library, including netCDF. For
1717 a more detailed list of features of the QGIS desktop, browser, server,
1718 and client, see the [QGIS features
1719 page](http://www.qgis.org/en/about-qgis/features.html).
1720 
1721 Ruby interface {#Ruby}
1722 -------------------------------------
1723 
1724 A group at the Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere (RISH) of
1725 Kyoto University has developed a [netCDF interface for
1726 Ruby](http://www.gfd-dennou.org/arch/ruby/products/ruby-netcdf/), an
1727 interpreted, object-oriented scripting language. This interface is
1728 intended to cover all the functionality of the C library for netCDF.
1729 Also available are combination functions such as iterators (which offer
1730 abstract ways to scan files and variables). Numeric arrays are handled
1731 by the "NArray" multi-dimensional array class, which is becoming the de
1732 facto standard multi-dimensional array for Ruby. See also the Ruby-based
1733 [GPhys software and Gfdnavi tool](#Gfdnavi) for accessing GRIB, GrADS,
1734 and netCDF data uniformly.
1735 
1736 More information about Ruby is available from the [Ruby web
1737 site](http://www.ruby-lang.org/).
1738 
1739 Scientific DataSet (SDS) Library {#SDS}
1740 ------------------------------------------------------
1741 
1742 The [Scientific DataSet Library and Tools
1743 project](http://sds.codeplex.com), developed jointly by Microsoft
1744 Research Cambridge and Moscow State University, is aimed at manipulation
1745 and visualization of multidimensional data sets.
1746 
1747 Scientific DataSet (or SDS in short) is a .NET class library for
1748 manipulating scientific data and their metadata. SDS provides a unified
1749 API for convenient access to various data storages. Three types of
1750 storages are supported by the first release: NetCDF files, CSV text
1751 files and volatile in-memory datasets. SDS uses native NetCDF library
1752 built from version 4.0.1 both for 32 and 64-bit Windows platforms. New
1753 storage types can be added to SDS infractructure as plugins. Support for
1754 accessing TIFF image files from SDS as 2D arrays will be available soon
1755 as a separate CodePlex project.
1756 
1757 Three applications are built on top of SDS:
1758 
1759 - sds command line utility. It allows users to examine data set
1760  schema, copy data sets, modify their metadata.
1761 - DataSetViewer application for visualization of data sets.
1762  DataSetViewer is both a standalone application and Windows
1763  Presentation Foundation Control that can be built into your
1764  applications. DataSetViewer has support for interactive slicing of
1765  multidimensional data along any dimension.
1766 - DataSetEditor add-in for Microsoft Office Excel. DataSetEditor
1767  provides ability to view and modify the contents of any data set as
1768  Excel worksheets.
1769 
1770 You can read the Getting Started document at
1771 <http://sds.codeplex.com/Project/Download/FileDownload.aspx?DownloadId=127282>
1772 for a more detailed introduction to the Scientific DataSet software. A
1773 Windows Installation package for SDS binaries along with DataSet Viewer
1774 and DataSet Editor are available also. You can also build core class
1775 libraries and the sds utility under Mono. You may use, copy, and
1776 reproduce this software for any non-commercial purpose. For further
1777 details see license at <http://sds.codeplex.com/license>.
1778 
1779 The SDS project is in beta phase and keeps evolving. You are welcome to
1780 join discussions or report issues at the CodePlex site:
1781 <http://sds.codeplex.com>.
1782 
1783 sciNetCDF {#scinetcdf}
1784 -------------------------------------------------------------
1785 [sciNetCDF](https://atoms.scilab.org/toolboxes/scinetcdf)
1786 
1787 In the context of the IASI-NG project, CNES is responsible for the development
1788 of a Scilab/NetCDF4 interface, which CNES wanted to make available to the entire
1789 scientific community.
1790 
1791 The toolbox sciNetCDF is the result of this collaboration. It can read and write
1792 NetCDF files of any version (version 4 of the format is used by default for
1793 writing).
1794 
1795 The toolbox provides high level functions to read/write NetCDF files natively in
1796 Scilab in a friendly manner (data is converted automatically from Scilab to
1797 NetCDF and inversely).
1798 These functions are:
1799 - nccreate
1800 - ncwrite
1801 - ncread
1802 - ncwriteatt
1803 - ncreadatt
1804 - ncdisp
1805 
1806 It provides also a low level interface to all the NetCDF C library functions
1807 
1808 
1809 Apache Spatial Information System (SIS) {#SIS}
1810 -------------------------------------------------------------
1811 
1812 [Apache Spatial Information System
1813 (SIS)](https://builds.apache.org/job/sis-trunk/site/index.html) is a
1814 Java library for developing geospatial applications. SIS enables
1815 representation of coordinates for searching, data clustering, archiving,
1816 or any other relevant spatial needs. The library is an implementation of
1817 GeoAPI 3.0 interfaces and can be used for desktop or server
1818 applications.
1819 
1820 SIS provides data structures for geographic data and associated metadata
1821 along with methods to manipulate those data structures. The SIS metadata
1822 module forms the base of the library and enables the creation of
1823 metadata objects which comply with the ISO 19115 metadata model and
1824 which can be read from or written to ISO 19139 compliant XML documents.
1825 The SIS referencing module will enable the construction of geodetic data
1826 structures for geospatial referencing based on the ISO 19111 model such
1827 as axis, projection and coordinate reference system definitions, along
1828 with the associated operations which enable the mathematical conversion
1829 of coordinates between different systems of reference. The SIS storage
1830 modules will provide a common approach to the reading and writing of
1831 grid coverages applicable to simple imagery and multidimensional data
1832 structures.
1833 
1834 SIS supports creating ISO 19115 metadata from metadata in a netCDF store
1835 from a given file, URL, stream, or NetcdfFile object. SIS netCDF storage
1836 is intended to be a bridge between NetCDF Climate and Forecast (CF)
1837 conventions and ISO 19115 metadata.
1838 
1839 SIS is under development as an Apache project. Release 0.3 is currently
1840 available for download.
1841 
1842 Tcl/Tk interfaces {#TclTk}
1843 ------------------------------------------
1844 
1845 Dan Schmitt has developed [cdftcl](http://cnrit.tamu.edu/rsg/cdftcl/), a
1846 [Tcl/Tk](http://www.scriptics.com/) interface for netCDF. It allows the
1847 use of "wildcards" (\*) or ranges (1-4) in the subscript notation, and
1848 use of name references instead of variable IDs. Contact dan@computer.org
1849 for more information.
1850 
1851 Tcl-nap {#Tcl-nap}
1852 ---------------------------------
1853 
1854 [Tcl-nap](http://tcl-nap.sourceforge.net) (n-dimensional array
1855 processor) is a loadable extension of Tcl which provides a powerful and
1856 efficient facility for processing data in the form of n-dimensional
1857 arrays. It has been designed to provide an array-processing facility
1858 with much of the functionality of languages such as
1859 [APL](http://www.acm.org/sigapl/), Fortran-90, [IDL](#IDL),
1860 [J](http://www.jsoftware.com/), [matlab](http://www.mathworks.com), and
1861 [octave](http://www.octave.org/).
1862 
1863 Support is provided for data based on n-dimensional grids, where the
1864 dimensions correspond to continuous spatial coordinates. There are
1865 interfaces to the HDF and netCDF file formats commonly used for such
1866 data, especially in Earth sciences such as Oceanography and Meteorology.
1867 
1868 The internal data structure is called a NAO (n-dimensional array object)
1869 and contains similar information to that of HDF SDSs and netCDF
1870 variables.
1871 
1872 Tcl-nap was developed as part of the [CSIRO CAPS
1873 project](http://www.dar.csiro.au/rs/avhrr_processing_software.htm), but
1874 can be loaded and used without the (satellite oriented) CAPS extension.
1875 
1876 Visual Basic and VB.net interfaces {#VB}
1877 -------------------------------------------------------
1878 
1879 Carsten Wieczorrek has developed code in VB 6 to export chromatographic
1880 data into the netcdf/ANDI format. The application writes netCDF files
1881 that can be read by CHROMELEON, for example. For others interested in
1882 programming with netcdf.dll from VB 6, see Wieczorrek's web page on
1883 [netCDF and VB 6.0](http://www.mn-net.com/netcdf_vb6) and for VB.net,
1884 see [netCDF and VB.net](http://www.mn-net.com/netcdf_vbnet).
1885 
1886 VisAD {#VisAD}
1887 -----------------------------
1888 
1889 [VisAD](http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/~billh/visad.html) is a Java class
1890 library for interactive and collaborative visualization and analysis of
1891 numerical data. It combines:
1892 - The use of pure Java for platform independence and to support data
1893  sharing and real-time collaboration among geographically distributed
1894  users. Support for distributed computing is integrated at the lowest
1895  levels of the system using Java RMI distributed objects.
1896 - A general mathematical data model that can be adapted to virtually
1897  any numerical data, that supports data sharing among different
1898  users, different data sources and different scientific disciplines,
1899  and that provides transparent access to data independent of storage
1900  format and location (i.e., memory, disk or remote). The data model
1901  has been adapted to netCDF, FITS, HDF-EOS, McIDAS, Vis5D, GIF and
1902  JPEG file formats.
1903 - A general display model that supports interactive 3-D, data fusion,
1904  multiple data views, direct manipulation, collaboration, and virtual
1905  reality. The display model has been adapted to Java3D and Java2D and
1906  used in an ImmersaDesk virtual reality display.
1907 - Data analysis and computation integrated with visualization to
1908  support computational steering and other complex interaction modes.
1909 - Support for two distinct communities: developers who create domain-
1910  specific systems based on VisAD, and users of those domain-specific
1911  systems. VisAD is designed to support a wide variety of user
1912  interfaces, ranging from simple data browser applets to complex
1913  applications that allow groups of scientists to collaboratively
1914  develop data analysis algorithms.
1915 - Developer extensibility in as many ways as possible.
1916 
1917 VisAD was written by programmers at the [SSEC Visualization
1918 Project](http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/~billh/vis.html) at the University of
1919 Wisconsin-Madison [Space Science and Engineering
1920 Center](http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/), and the [Unidata Program
1921 Center](/index.html).
1922 
1923 WebWinds {#WebWinds}
1924 -----------------------------------
1925 
1926 [WebWinds](http://www.openchannelsoftware.com/projects/WebWinds/) is a
1927 free Java-based science visualization and analysis package. In addition
1928 to several new analysis tools, the current fourth version does automatic
1929 scripting. This allows
1930 
1931 1. a user to rapidly and automatically create and store a session,
1932  either for his own use, or for use by a collaborator on another
1933  machine;
1934 2. a data provider to automatically create a specialized analysis
1935  environment which can be downloaded (as a small script file) along
1936  with a dataset from a Website; and
1937 3. realtime collaboration or sharing of sessions over (even
1938  low-bandwidth) networks, including the Internet.
1939 
1940 This scripting requires no knowledge of the scripting language syntax.
1941 Several sample script files are included with the distribution.
1942 
1943 In addition, this version contains a capability to geo-reference some
1944 data and to read ASCII data in tabular format. Also new is the ability
1945 to output data in numerical form (e.g. NetCDF) and a context sensitive,
1946 integrated help system.
1947 
1948 As with earlier versions, data in several different formats, including
1949 NetCDF, can be read in easily from your local machine or from the Web.
1950 In addition, most data can be subset or subsampled on load, making it
1951 possible to visualize very large multidimensional and/or multispectral
1952 datasets. The package includes several step-by-step examples.
1953 Installation of the software (including Java) on the PC or Mac is a
1954 process requiring one file to be downloaded and opened. If you need help
1955 getting started, a remote tutorial is available once you've downloaded
1956 the package.
1957 
1958 WebWinds is \`point and click' rather than language driven and it runs
1959 well on Unix, Windows (95/98/NT) and Mac platforms. It currently
1960 requires JDK 1.1. To download a copy of this release, go to
1961 <http://www.sci-conservices.com/rel4/webpage/wwhome.html>
1962 
1963 xray (Python N-D labelled arrays) {#xray}
1964 --------------------------------------------------------
1965 
1966 [xray](http://xray.readthedocs.org/en/stable/index.html) is an open
1967 source project and Python package that aims to bring the labeled data
1968 power of [pandas](http://pandas.pydata.org/) to the physical sciences,
1969 by providing N-dimensional variants of the core pandas data structures,
1970 Series and DataFrame: the xray DataArray and Dataset.
1971 
1972 xray adopts the [Common Data
1973 Model](http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/software/thredds/current/netcdf-java/CDM)
1974 for self-describing scientific data in widespread use in the Earth
1975 sciences (e.g., netCDF and OPeNDAP): xray.Dataset is an in-memory
1976 representation of a netCDF file.
1977 
1978 xray is being developed by Stephan Hoyer, Alex Kleeman, and [other
1979 contributors](https://github.com/xray/xray/graphs/contributors).
1980 
1981 Zebra {#Zebra}
1982 -----------------------------
1983 
1984 [Zebra](http://www.atd.ucar.edu/rdp/zebra.html) (formerly named Zeb) is
1985 a system for data ingest, storage, integration and display, designed to
1986 operate in both real time and postprocessing modes. Zebra was developed
1987 by Jonathan Corbet and others in NCAR's [Research Data
1988 Program](http://www.atd.ucar.edu/rdp/rdp_home.html).
1989 Zebra's primary use is for the superpositioning of observational data
1990 sets (such as those collected by satellite, radar, mesonet and aircraft)
1991 and analysis products (such as model results, dual-Doppler synthesis or
1992 algorithm output). Data may be overlaid on a variety of display types,
1993 including constant altitude planes, vertical cross-sections, X-Y graphs,
1994 Skew-T plots and time-height profiles. The fields for display, color
1995 tables, contour intervals and various other display options are defined
1996 using an icon based user-interface. This highly flexible system allows
1997 scientific investigators to interactively superimpose and highlight
1998 diverse data sets; thus aiding data interpretation.
1999 
2000 Data handling capabilities permit external analysis programs to be
2001 easily linked with display and data storage processes. The data store
2002 accepts incoming data, stores it on disk, and makes it available to
2003 processes which need it. An application library is available for data
2004 handling. The library functions allow data storage, retrieval and
2005 queries using a single applications interface, regardless of the data's
2006 source and organization. NetCDF data that conforms to Zebra conventions
2007 is supported by this interface.
2008 
2009 Zebra is currently available to the university research community
2010 through the NCAR/ATD Research Data Program. Email requests to
2011 rdp-support@atd.ucar.edu. More information is on the web page
2012 http://www.atd.ucar.edu/rdp/zebra.html.
2013 
2014 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015 
2016 User-Contributed Software {#user}
2017 ================================================
2018 
2019 Unidata makes available a separate
2020 [catalog](/software/netcdf/Contrib.html) to a
2021 [directory](ftp://ftp.unidata.ucar.edu/pub/netcdf/contrib/) of freely
2022 available, user-contributed software and documentation related to the
2023 netCDF library. This software may be retrieved by anonymous FTP. We
2024 haven't necessarily used or tested this software; we make it available
2025 "as is".
2026 
2027 The criteria for inclusion in the netcdf/contrib/ directory of
2028 user-contributed software are:
2029 
2030 - General usefulness to a significant part of the netCDF community
2031 - Small size
2032 - Infrequent need for updates
2033 - Free availability
2034 
2035 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
2036 
2037 Commercial or Licensed Packages {#commercial}
2038 ===============================
2039 
2040 ASA ViewNcDap {#ViewNcDap}
2041 -----------------------------------------
2042 
2043 Applied Science Associates, Inc. has made the ASA View NC/Dap
2044 application freely available for
2045 [download](http://www.asascience.com/downloads). ViewNcDap is a
2046 stand-alone research-based tool (with included demonstration data) that
2047 allows a user to visualize four dimensional NetCDF and OPeNDAP data.
2048 ViewNcDap is a Windows application that includes temporal/time step
2049 functionality for viewing animations of data that include temporal
2050 information. The application may be used to visualize a variety of
2051 time-varying geospatial scientific data in a simple map framework. It
2052 handles CF conventions and includes some aliasing features that could
2053 permit additional formats to be read. It should not be considered a GIS
2054 system, but is used to quickly preview a variety of data on a simple
2055 map. Data may also be filtered and saved to a local netCDF file.
2056 
2057 Avizo {#Avizo}
2058 -----------------------------
2059 
2060 [Avizo](http://www.avizo3d.com/) software is a powerful tool for 3D data
2061 visualization and analysis. It offers a comprehensive feature set that
2062 addresses visualization, processing, analysis, communication and
2063 presentation. [Avizo Green
2064 Edition](http://www.vsg3d.com/vsg_prod_avizo_green.php) includes an
2065 advanced set of features dedicated to climate, oceanography,
2066 environmental or earth-mapped data. It provides high-level support for
2067 the netCDF format, a dedicated Earth visualization module, and a set of
2068 advanced geographical projections applicable to a wide range of fast 2D
2069 and 3D data representations.
2070 
2071 For more information, see [www.avizo3d.com](http://www.avizo3d.com/).
2072 
2073 AVS {#AVS}
2074 -------------------------
2075 
2076 [AVS](ftp://testavs.ncsc.org/avs/Info/WHAT_IS_AVS) (Application
2077 Visualization System) is a visualization application software and
2078 development environment. An AVS module has been written that allows
2079 multi-dimensional netCDF data sets to read into AVS as uniform or
2080 rectilinear field files. The AVS user can point and click to specify the
2081 name of the variable in the selected netCDF file, as well as selecting
2082 the hyperslab. If 1D coordinate variables exist (a variable that has the
2083 same name as a dimension) then the coordinate variable will be used to
2084 specify the coordinates of resulting rectilinear field file. If no
2085 coordinate variable exists, then the resulting field file will be
2086 uniform. Once in AVS, there are hundreds of analysis and display modules
2087 available for image processing, isosurface rendering, arbitrary slicing,
2088 alpha blending, streamline and vorticity calculation, particle
2089 advection, etc. AVS runs on many different platforms (Stardent, DEC,
2090 Cray, Convex, E and S, SET, Sun, IBM, SGI, HP, FPS and WaveTracer), and
2091 it has a flexible data model capable of handling multidimensional data
2092 on non-Cartesian grids.
2093 The module source code and documentation is available from the
2094 [International AVS Center](http://iac.ncsc.org/), in the
2095 <ftp://testavs.ncsc.org/avs/AVS5/Module_Src/data_input/read_netcdf/>
2096 directory.
2097 
2098 See also the information on [DDI](#DDI) for another way to use netCDF
2099 data with AVS.
2100 
2101 Barrodale UFI {#BCS-UFI}
2102 ---------------------------------------
2103 
2104 [Barrodale Computing Services Ltd.](http://www.barrodale.com) (BCS) has
2105 developed a product that addresses one of the main objections heard from
2106 "technologists" (e.g., scientists, engineers, and other researchers) who
2107 avoid using databases to manage their data: "my very large data files
2108 are too cumbersome/difficult/slow/costly to load into a database". In
2109 addition to netCDF, these files come in a variety of formats (HDF5,
2110 GRIB, NITFS, FITS, etc.).
2111 
2112 This BCS product is called the [Universal File Interface
2113 (UFI)](http://www.barrodale.com/bcs/universal-file-interface-ufi); it's
2114 a database extension based on the IBM Informix Virtual Table Interface
2115 (VTI). *(Please continue reading even if you don't have Informix running
2116 on your system, because IBM has just made available, at no charge, the
2117 [Innovator-C
2118 Edition](http://www-01.ibm.com/software/data/informix/innovator-c-edition/)
2119 of Informix.)* A demo that uses UFI to access wind speeds can be seen
2120 [here](http://www.barrodale.com/bcs/universal-file-interface-animation).
2121 
2122 VTI is a technology that supports making external datasets appear as
2123 tables to SQL queries and statements. UFI is a BCS database extension
2124 for delivering the contents of external data files as though they were
2125 rows in a database table. UFI makes a file look like a set of database
2126 tables, so "UFI managed tables" are actually virtual database tables.
2127 Consequently, users of UFI can perform SQL queries on their files
2128 without having to first load them into a database.
2129 
2130 DioVISTA/Storm {#DioVISTAStorm}
2131 -----------------------------------------------
2132 
2133 [DioVISTA/Storm](http://www.hitachi-power-solutions.com/products/product03/p03_61.html)
2134 is a commercial software package that visualizes content of netCDF files
2135 as a time series of grids, isosurfaces, and arrows on a 3D virtual
2136 earth. Its user interface is similar to standard 3D earth visualizing
2137 software. It displays OGC KML files, Shapefiles, and online map
2138 resources through OGC Web Tile Map Services (WTMS). It supports CF
2139 Conventions version 1.6 (lon-lat-alt-time axis and trajectory). Its
2140 first version was released on Aug 5 2014.
2141 
2142 Environmental WorkBench {#Environmental_WorkBench}
2143 -----------------------------------------------------------------
2144 
2145 [SuperComputer Systems Engineering and Services
2146 Company](http://www.ssesco.com/) (SSESCO) has developed the
2147 [Environmental WorkBench](http://www.ssesco.com/files/ewb.html) (EWB),
2148 an easy to use visualization and analysis application targeted at
2149 environmental data. The EWB currently has numerous users in the fields
2150 of meteorological research, air quality work, and groundwater
2151 remediation.
2152 EWB system features include:
2153 
2154 - Random access file structure using the netCDF-based public domain
2155  MeRAF file system with support for gridded, discrete (non-grid-based
2156  observation), and particle types
2157 - Support for geo-referenced or Cartesian coordinate systems
2158 - Object oriented Graphical User Interface (GUI) that is very easy to
2159  use
2160 - Tools for converting model and observational data sets and data
2161  writers to netCDF
2162 - Interactive rotation/translation of scenes in 3D space
2163 - Time sequencing controls to step forward/backward, animate
2164  sequentially, or go to a chosen time step; including multiple
2165  asynchronous or non-uniform time steps
2166 - Interactive slicers to select cross sections through 3D data sets
2167 - Display operators available on the slices, including
2168  - Contour lines with selectable contour levels
2169  - Color shading by data value with variable transparency level
2170  - Arrow and streamline representation for vector quantities
2171  - Positional reference lines at user selected intervals
2172  - Color coded shapes at each grid node
2173 - Multiple 3D isosurfaces at selected parameters and values with
2174  variable transparency
2175 - Display of particle positions with coloring by type, height, and
2176  source
2177 - Display of discrete data using colored spheres and labels for scalar
2178  data and arrows for vectors (with arrowheads or meteorological
2179  style)
2180 - Multiple user definable color maps to which isosurface and colored
2181  field shading may be separately assigned
2182 - On screen annotation for generation of report ready figures
2183 - Image export in any of the common image formats (gif, tiff,
2184  encapsulated postscript, etc.)
2185 - Graceful handling of missing or bad data values by all the graphics
2186  rendering routines
2187 - Automatic data synchronization to allow automatic screen updating as
2188  new data arrives in real-time from a model or set of sensors
2189 - Two and three dimensional interpolation from scattered observations
2190  to a grid, using the Natural Neighbor Method. This robust volume
2191  based method yields results far superior to distance weighting
2192  schemes.
2193 
2194 Systems currently supported include Win95, WinNT, OS/2, IBM RS/6000,
2195 Silicon Graphics, HP and SUN workstations.
2196 
2197 SSESCO has implemented a meta-file layer on top of the netCDF library,
2198 called MeRAF. It handles multiple netCDF files as well as automatic
2199 max-min calculations, time-varying gridded, particle, and discrete data,
2200 logical groupings for discrete data, and an overall simplified and
2201 flexible interface for storing scientific data. MeRAF is being used by
2202 the DOE at the Hanford-Meteorological Site for observational data and
2203 will be used for their weather-modeling.
2204 
2205 ESRI {#ESRI}
2206 ---------------------------
2207 
2208 [ESRI ArcGIS](http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/index.html) version
2209 9.2 and later support [accessing netCDF time-based and multidimensional
2210 data](http://webhelp.esri.com/arcgisdesktop/9.2/index.cfm?TopicName=An_overview_of_data_support_in_ArcGIS)
2211 that follows CF or COARDS conventions for associating spatial locations
2212 with data. A selected slice of netCDF data may be displayed in ArcGIS as
2213 a raster layer, feature layer, or table. You can also drag a netCDF file
2214 from Windows Explorer and drop it in an ESRI application such as ArcMap.
2215 
2216 FME {#FME}
2217 -------------------------
2218 
2219 [FME](http://www.safe.com/fme), developed by [Safe Software
2220 Inc.](http://www.safe.com), is a tool for transforming data for exchange
2221 between over [300 different formats and
2222 models](http://www.safe.com/fme/format-search/), including netCDF. FME's
2223 read and write support for netCDF allows users to move data into the
2224 netCDF common standard, regardless of its source, and conversely enables
2225 end-users to consume netCDF data for use in their preferred systems. For
2226 more information visit <http://www.safe.com/fme>.
2227 
2228 HDF Explorer {#HDF-Explorer}
2229 -------------------------------------------
2230 
2231 [HDF Explorer](http://www.space-research.org/) is a data visualization
2232 program that reads the HDF, HDF5 and netCDF data file formats (including
2233 netCDF classic format data). HDF Explorer runs in the Microsoft Windows
2234 operating systems.
2235 
2236 HDF Explorer offers a simple yet powerful interface for the
2237 visualization of HDF and netCDF data. The data is just a click of the
2238 mouse away. Data is first viewed in a tree-like interface, and then
2239 optionally loaded and visualized in a variety of ways. HDF Explorer
2240 features include fast access to data, grid, scalar and vector views. It
2241 also allows exporting your data either as an ASCII text file or a bitmap
2242 image.
2243 
2244 IDL Interface {#IDL}
2245 -----------------------------------
2246 
2247 [IDL](http://www.exelisvis.com/ProductsServices/IDL.aspx) (Interactive
2248 Data Language) is a scientific computing environment, developed and
2249 supported by [Excelis Visual Information
2250 Solutions](http://www.exelisvis.com/), that combines mathematics,
2251 advanced data visualization, scientific graphics, and a graphical user
2252 interface toolkit to analyze and visualize scientific data. Designed for
2253 use by scientists and scientific application developers, IDL's
2254 array-oriented, fourth-generation programming language allows you to
2255 prototype and develop complete applications. IDL now supports data in
2256 netCDF format.
2257 As an example, here is how to read data from a netCDF variable named GP
2258 in a file named "data/aprin.nc" into an IDL variable named gp using the
2259 IDL language:
2260 
2261  id = ncdf_open('data/april.nc')
2262  ncdf_varget,id, ncdf_varid( id, 'GP'), gp
2263 
2264 Now you can visualize the data in the gp variable in a large variety of
2265 ways and use it in other computations in IDL. You can FTP a demo version
2266 of IDL, including the netCDF interface, by following the instructions in
2267 pub/idl/README available via anonymous FTP from gateway.rsinc.com or
2268 boulder.colorado.edu.
2269 Other software packages that use or interoperate with IDL to access
2270 netCDF data includes [ARGOS](#ARGOS), [CIDS Tools](#CIDS_Tools),
2271 [DDI](#DDI), [HIPHOP](#HIPHOP), [Hyperslab OPerator Suite
2272 (HOPS)](Hyperslab_OPerator_Suite_(HOPS)), and [Noesys](Noesys).
2273 
2274 InterFormat {#InterFormat}
2275 -----------------------------------------
2276 
2277 [InterFormat](http://www.radio-logic.com/) is a medical image format
2278 conversion program with both Motif and character interfaces. InterFormat
2279 can automatically identify and convert most popular medical image
2280 formats and write output files in many standard medical image formats,
2281 or in formats such as netCDF that are suitable for input to leading
2282 scientific visualization packages. InterFormat runs on UNIX
2283 workstations; a version for OpenVMS is also available. A separate
2284 external module for [IBM Data Explorer](#OpenDX) is available for use in
2285 IBM Data Explorer's Visual Program Editor.
2286 For more details about the formats handled, program features, and
2287 pricing, see the Radio-Logic web site at
2288 [<http://www.radio-logic.com>](http://www.radio-logic.com).
2289 
2290 IRIS Explorer Module {#IRIS_Explorer_Module}
2291 -----------------------------------------------------------
2292 
2293 The Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Group at the National Center for
2294 Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) and the Mesoscale Dynamics and
2295 Precipitation Branch at NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center have developed
2296 the NCSA PATHFINDER module set for [IRIS
2297 Explorer](http://www.nag.co.uk:70/1h/Welcome_IEC). Two of the modules,
2298 [ReadDFG](http://redrock.ncsa.uiuc.edu/PATHFINDER/pathrel2/explorer/ReadDFG/ReadDFG.html)
2299 (to output Grids), and
2300 [ReadDF](http://redrock.ncsa.uiuc.edu/PATHFINDER/pathrel2/explorer/ReadDF/ReadDF.html)
2301 (to output Lattices) are capable of reading from NCSA HDF files,
2302 MFHDF/3.3 files, and Unidata netCDF files. A user-friendly interface
2303 provides control and information about the contents of the files.
2304 
2305 For ReadDF, the format translation is handled transparently. Up to five
2306 unique lattices may be generated from the file (as these files can
2307 contain multiple data fields) using a single module. A variety of
2308 dimensionalities and data types are supported also. Multiple variables
2309 may be combined in a single lattice to generate vector data. All three
2310 Explorer coordinate systems are supported.
2311 
2312 With ReadDFG, user selected variables from the file are output in up to
2313 five PATHFINDER grids. Each grid can consist of scalar data from one
2314 variable or vector data from multiple variables. Coordinate information
2315 from the file is also included in the grids. Any number of dimensions in
2316 any of the Explorer coordinate types are supported.
2317 
2318 For more information on the NCSA PATHFINDER project and other available
2319 modules, visit the WWW/Mosaic PATHFINDER Home Page at
2320 <http://redrock.ncsa.uiuc.edu/PATHFINDER/pathrel2/top/top.html> The
2321 ReadDF module may be downloaded either via the WWW server or anonymous
2322 ftp at redrock.ncsa.uiuc.edu in the /pub/PATHFINDER directory. For more
2323 information please send email to: pathfinder@redrock.ncsa.uiuc.edu
2324 
2325 See also the information on [DDI](#DDI) for another way to use netCDF
2326 data with IRIS Explorer.
2327 
2328 LeoNetCDF {#LeoNetCDF}
2329 -------------------------------------
2330 
2331 [LeoNetCDF](http://www.leokrut.com/leonetcdf.html) is a Windows
2332 application (Windows95/NT and higher) for editing netCDF files. It can
2333 display content of netCDF files in tree style control and permits
2334 editing its parameters in a standard Windows interface environment.
2335 
2336 Mathematica {#Mathematica}
2337 -----------------------------------------
2338 
2339 [Mathematica](http://www.wolfram.com/products/mathematica/index.html) is
2340 a technical computing environment that provides advanced numerical and
2341 symbolic computation and visualization. As of version 6, Mathematica
2342 adds classic [netCDF
2343 data](http://reference.wolfram.com/mathematica/ref/format/NetCDF.html)
2344 to the many forms of data it can import, export, and visualize.
2345 
2346 MATLAB {#MATLAB}
2347 -------------------------------
2348 
2349 [MATLAB](http://www.mathworks.com/products/matlab/) is an integrated
2350 technical computing environment that combines numeric computation,
2351 advanced graphics and visualization, and a high-level programming
2352 language. Versions 7.7 and later of MATLAB have built-in support for
2353 reading and writing netCDF data. MATLAB version 2012a includes the
2354 netCDF 4.1.2 library with OPeNDAP client support turned on, so remote
2355 access to netCDF and other data formats supported by OPeNDAP servers is
2356 available.
2357 For earlier versions, several freely-available software packages that
2358 implement a MATLAB/netCDF interface are available:
2359 [nctoolbox](#nctoolbox), [NetCDF Toolbox for MATLAB-5](#NC4ML5),
2360 [MexEPS](#MexEPS), the [CSIRO MATLAB/netCDF interface](#CSIRO-MATLAB),
2361 [NetCDF
2362 reader](http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/loadFile.do?objectId=15177&objectType=file),
2363 and [fanmat](/software/netcdf/Contrib.html).
2364 
2365 
2366 
2367 Noesys {#Neosys}
2368 -------------------------------
2369 
2370 [Noesys](http://www.rsinc.com/NOeSYS/index.cfm) is software for desktop
2371 science data access and visualization. Available for both Windows and
2372 Power Macintosh platforms, Noesys allows users to access, process,
2373 organize and visualize large amounts of technical data.
2374 Noesys can be used to:
2375 
2376 - Access and organize complex technical data
2377 - Export data objects to text and binary
2378 - View and edit large multidimensional data sets (up to 7D) in a
2379  spreadsheet-like environment
2380 - Manipulate and process data using
2381  [IDL®](http://www.exelisvis.com/ProductsServices/IDL.aspx), the
2382  Interactive Data Language, from Research Systems, Inc.
2383 - Interactively visualize column, matrix, and volumetric data sets
2384 - Image global datasets as various map projections
2385 - Create various projections from partial data or partial projections
2386  from global data (Windows only)
2387 - View and Edit HDF-EOS grid object data
2388 - Subset datasets and data tables with a GUI dialog
2389 - Change and save the number format of datasets and data table fields
2390 - Drag and Drop HDF objects between files to organize or subset files
2391 - Attach text annotations directly to the data file
2392 - Add new data objects to files and create hierarchical groups
2393 - Edit or create new color palettes
2394 - Generate publication-quality graphics for data presentation
2395 
2396 Noesys has an interface to IDL®, allowing data to move back and forth
2397 between Noesys and IDL with the click of a mouse. Noesys includes the
2398 visual data analysis tools, Transform, T3D and Plot, for menu driven
2399 plotting, rendering, and image analysis. Noesys can import HDF, HDF-EOS,
2400 netCDF, ASCII, Binary, DTED, GeoTIFF, SDTS, TIFF, PICT, and BMP files,
2401 create annotations, macros, images, projections and color palettes
2402 specific to the data and save it the result as an HDF file. Noesys also
2403 includes an HDF-EOS Grid Editor. Noesys runs on Windows 95/98 & NT and
2404 Power Macintosh OS. More details and information about ordering Noesys
2405 are available from
2406 [<http://www.rsinc.com/NOeSYS/index.cfm>](http://www.rsinc.com/NOeSYS/index.cfm).
2407 
2408 Origin {#Origin}
2409 -------------------------------
2410 
2411 Ryan Toomey reports:
2412 
2413 Our website is <http://www.originlab.com/>
2414 
2415 A general description of Origin: Origin includes a suite of features
2416 that cater to the needs of scientists and engineers alike. Multi-sheet
2417 workbooks, publication-quality graphics, and standardized analysis tools
2418 provide a tightly integrated workspace for you to import data, create
2419 and annotate graphs, explore and analyze data, and publish your work. To
2420 ensure that Origin meets your data analysis requirements, intuitive
2421 tools for advanced statistics, regression, nonlinear curve fitting,
2422 signal processing, image processing and peak analysis are built-in.
2423 Since any analysis operation can be set to automatically recalculate,
2424 you can reuse your projects as templates for future work, thereby
2425 simplifying your daily routine.
2426 
2427 A general description of OriginPro: OriginPro offers all of the features
2428 of Origin plus extended analysis tools for statistics, 3D fitting, image
2429 processing and signal processing.
2430 
2431 A general description of OriginLab Corporation: "OriginLab Corporation
2432 produces professional data analysis and graphing software for scientists
2433 and engineers. Our products are designed to be easy-to-use, yet have the
2434 power and versatility to provide for the most demanding user."
2435 
2436 PPLUS {#PPLUS}
2437 -----------------------------
2438 
2439 [Plot-Plus (PPLUS)](http://dwd6.home.mindspring.com/) is a general
2440 purpose scientific graphics package, which is used in several PMEL
2441 applications. It will read most standard ascii or binary files, as well
2442 as netCDF file format, which used by the TOGA-TAO Project and the EPIC
2443 system for management display and analysis. PPLUS is an interactive,
2444 command driven, scientific graphics package which includes features such
2445 as Mercator projection, Polar Stereographic projection, color or gray
2446 scale area-fill contour plotting, and support for many devices:
2447 X-windows, PostScript, HP, Tektronix, and others. This powerful and
2448 flexible package recognizes netCDF data format, and it can extract axis
2449 lables and graph titles from the data files. The user can customize a
2450 plots, or combine several plots into a composite. Plots are of
2451 publication quality. The PPLUS graphics package is used for all the TAO
2452 workstation displays, including the animations. The animations are
2453 created by generating a PPLUS plot for each frame, transforming the
2454 PPLUS metacode files into HDF format with the PPLUS m2hdf filter, and
2455 then displaying the resulting bit maps as an animation with the
2456 XDataSlice utility, which is freely available on Internet from the
2457 National Center for Supercomputing Applications, at
2458 anonymous@ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu (141.142.20.50). There is also a new m2gif
2459 utility which produces GIF files from PPLUS metacode files.
2460 PPLUS is supported for most Unix systems and for VAX/VMS, and is in use
2461 at many oceanographic institutes in the US (e.g., (PMEL, Harvard, WHOI,
2462 Scripps, NCAR, NASA, University of Rhode Island, University of Oregon,
2463 Texas A&M...) and also internationally (Japan, Germany, Australia,
2464 Korea...).
2465 
2466 Plot Plus is now available at no charge. It does require licensing on a
2467 per computer basis, but the license is at no cost. For more information
2468 about licensing, see
2469 [http://dwd6.home.mindspring.com/pplus_license.html/](http://dwd6.home.mindspring.com/pplus_license.html);
2470 source and documentation are available via anonymous FTP from
2471 <ftp://ftp.halcyon.com/pub/users/dwd/pplus1_3_2.tar.gz> and
2472 <ftp://ftp.pmel.noaa.gov/epic/manual-dir/pplus.pdf>.
2473 
2474  Email: plot_plus@halcyon.com
2475  Postal mail: c/o Donald Denbo
2476  2138 N 186th St
2477  Shoreline, WA 98133
2478  Fax and Voice: (206) 366-0624
2479 
2480 PV-Wave {#PV-Wave}
2481 ---------------------------------
2482 
2483 [PV-Wave](http://www.vni.com/products/wave/index.html) is a software
2484 environment from [Visual Numerics](http://www.vni.com/) for solving
2485 problems requiring the application of graphics, mathematics, numerics
2486 and statistics to data and equations.
2487 PV-WAVE uses a fourth generation language (4GL) that analyzes and
2488 displays data as you enter commands. PV-WAVE includes integrated
2489 graphics, numerics, data I/O, and data management. The latest version of
2490 PV-Wave supports data access in numerous formats, including netCDF.
2491 
2492 See also the information on [DDI](#DDI) for another way to use netCDF
2493 data with PV-Wave.
2494 
2495 Slicer Dicer {#SlicerDicer}
2496 ------------------------------------------
2497 
2498 [Slicer Dicer](http://www.slicerdicer.com/) is a volumetric data
2499 visualization tool, currently available for Windows and under
2500 development for other platforms. The Slicer Dicer Web site includes a
2501 complete list of features, an on-line user's guide, and examples of
2502 Slicer Dicer output. Visualizations features include:
2503 - Perspective view of data rendered on interactively selected
2504  orthogonal slices, oblique slices, blocks (arbitrary rectilinear
2505  sub-volumes), cutouts, isosurfaces, and projected volumes (projected
2506  maximum, minimum, maximum absolute, or minimum absolute).
2507 - Optional annotations: caption, axes ticks and labels (default
2508  "pretty" ticks, or override to place ticks where you want them),
2509  color legend, data-cube outline.
2510 - Animation modes: slices, space, time (any parametric dimension),
2511  transparency, oblique slice orientation, rotation. Built-in
2512  animation viewer supports speed and image size controls,
2513  single-step, forward, backward, loop, and back-and-forth modes.
2514 - Select color scale from 25+ built in color tables, or import from
2515  palette file. Any data level or range of levels can be painted with
2516  an arbitrary color.
2517 - Any data level or range of levels can be rendered as either opaque
2518  or transparent.
2519 
2520 Surfer {#Surfer}
2521 ------------------------------------------
2522 
2523 [Surfer](http://www.goldensoftware.com/products/surfer) is a 3D
2524 visualization, contouring, and surface modeling package that runs
2525 under Microsoft Windows. Surfer is useful for terrain modeling,
2526 bathymetric modeling, landscape visualization, surface analysis,
2527 contour mapping, watershed and 3D surface mapping, gridding,
2528 volumetrics, and more. A sophisticated interpolation engine transforms
2529 XYZ data into publication-quality maps. Surfer imports from and
2530 exports to a multitude of file formats, including NetCDF grids.
2531 
2532 vGeo {#vGeo}
2533 ---------------------------
2534 
2535 [vGeo](http://www.vrco.com/products/vgeo/vgeo.html) (Virtual Global
2536 Explorer and Observatory) is an end-user product from
2537 [VRCO](http://www.vrco.com/) designed to import and visualize multiple
2538 disparate data sets, including computer simulations, observed
2539 measurements, images, model objects, and more. vGeo is available for
2540 IRIX, Linux and Windows platforms and supports displays ranging from
2541 desktop monitors to multi-walled projection systems. It accepts data in
2542 a variety of formats, including netCDF, and allows the user to specify
2543 how multiple files and variables are mapped into a data source. 3D
2544 graphics are built from the underlying data in real-time, and the user
2545 has interactive control of graphics, navigation, animation, and more.
2546 
2547 VISAGE and Decimate {#VISAGE_and_Decimate}
2548 ---------------------------------------------------------
2549 
2550 [VISAGE](http://www.crd.ge.com/esl/cgsp/projects/visage/)
2551 (VISualization, Animation, and Graphics Environment) is a turnkey 3D
2552 visualization system developed at General Electric Corporate Research
2553 and Development, (Schroeder, WJ et al, "VISAGE: An Object-Oriented
2554 Scientific Visualization System", Proceedings of Visualization \`92
2555 Conference). VISAGE is designed to interface with a wide variety of
2556 data, and uses netCDF as the preferred format.
2557 
2558 VISAGE is used at GE Corporate R & D, GE Aircraft Engine, GE Canada, GE
2559 Power Generation, as well as ETH Zurich, Switzerland, MQS In Chieti,
2560 Italy, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.
2561 
2562 GE has another application called "Decimate" that does polygon
2563 reduction/decimation (Schroeder,WJ et al, "Decimation of Triangle
2564 Meshes", Proceedings of SIGGRAPH \`92). This application uses netCDF as
2565 a preferred format. Decimate is currently licensed to Cyberware, Inc.,
2566 makers of 3D laser digitizing hardware. Decimate is currently bundled
2567 with the scanners, and will soon be available as a commercial product.
2568 
2569 Voyager {#Voyager}
2570 ---------------------------------
2571 
2572 [Makai Voyager](http://voyager.makai.com/), developed by Makai Ocean
2573 Engineering, Inc., is 3D/4D geospatial visualization software that
2574 enables users to import, fuse, view, and analyze large earth, ocean, and
2575 atmosphere scientific data as it is collected or simulated in a global
2576 geo-referenced GIS platform. The key differentiator of Makai Voyager is
2577 its level-of-detail (LOD) technology that enables users to stream big
2578 data rapidly over a network or the web.
2579 
2580 Features in Makai Voyager Version 1.2 include:
2581 
2582 - Preprocessing LiDAR, GIS, & volumetric data from common formats into
2583  streamable files
2584 - Volume rendering for large 4D (3D + time) data, such as NetCDF
2585 - Analysis tools and customizable graphs
2586 - WMS and other streamable formats
2587 
2588 Individual or group licenses are available for Windows (32- and 64-bit),
2589 Linux, and Mac OS X. A full-featured 30-day trial version of Makai
2590 Voyager is [available for download](http://voyager.makai.com).

Return to the Main Unidata NetCDF page.
Generated on Tue May 3 2016 08:56:00 for NetCDF. NetCDF is a Unidata library.