CDM File Types

The NetCDF-Java/CDM library provides a uniform API to many different scientific file formats and remote access protocols. Generally, application programmers should respect the encapsulation of these formats. When information is needed about the underlying file type, NetcdfFile.getFileTypeId(), NetcdfFile.getFileTypeVersion() and NetcdfFile.getFileTypeDescription() methods can be called.

The Id must be unique and once registered, will never change, so that application code can test against it. Version information should have a standard form for each file type, but the form may differ between file types. The Description is human-readable and may present variations when appropriate, such as adding processing history, etc. The Reference URL(s) in this table are informational, and may change as needed.

To support this functionality, getFileTypeId(), getFileTypeVersion() and getFileTypeDescription() methods have been added to the IOServiceProvider interface as of version 4.0.46. You will need to add these methods to your IOServiceProvider implementations.

To register your format/IOServiceProvider, or to send corrections and additions to this table, please send email to support-netcdf-java@unidata.ucar.edu.

Id Description Reference URL
BUFR WMO Binary Universal Form http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/www/WMOCodes/OperationalCodes.html
CINRAD Chinese Level-II Base Data http://www.cinrad.com/
DMSP Defense Meteorological Satellite Program http://dmsp.ngdc.noaa.gov/
DORADE DOppler RAdar Data Exchange Format http://www.eol.ucar.edu/rsf/UserGuides/SABL/DoradeFormat/DoradeFormat.html
F-TDS Ferret I/O Service Provider and Server-side Analysis http://ferret.pmel.noaa.gov/LAS/documentation/the-ferret-thredds-data-server-f-tds
FYSAT Chinese FY-2 satellite image data in AWX format http://satellite.cma.gov.cn/
GempakGrid GEMPAK Gridded Data https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/software/gempak/
GempakSurface GEMPAK Surface Obs Data https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/software/gempak/
GINI GOES Ingest and NOAAPORT Interface http://weather.unisys.com/wxp/Appendices/Formats/GINI.html
GRIB-1 WMO GRIB Edition 1 http://www.wmo.ch/pages/prog/www/WMOCodes/Guides/GRIB/GRIB1-Contents.html
GRIB-2 WMO GRIB Edition 2 http://www.wmo.ch/pages/prog/www/WMOCodes/Guides/GRIB/GRIB2_062006.pdf
GTOPO USGS GTOPO digital elevation model http://edc.usgs.gov/products/elevation/gtopo30/gtopo30.html
HDF4 Hierarchical Data Format, version 4 http://www.hdfgroup.org/products/hdf4/
HDF5 Hierarchical Data Format, version 5 http://www.hdfgroup.org/HDF5/
McIDASArea McIDAS area file http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/mcidas/doc/misc_doc/area2.html
McIDASGrid McIDAS grid file

http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/mcidas/doc/prog_man/2006

http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/mcidas/doc/prog_man/2006/formats-20.html#22077

netCDF NetCDF classic format https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/software/netcdf/index.html
netCDF-4 NetCDF-4 format on HDF-5 https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/software/netcdf/index.html
NEXRAD-2

NEXRAD Level-II Base Data

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/radar/radarresources.html

http://www.tsc.com/SETS/_3TDWR.htm

NEXRAD-3 NEXRAD Level-III Products http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/radar/radarresources.html
NLDN National Lightning Detection Network http://www.vaisala.com/weather/products/aboutnldn.html
NMCon29 NMC Office Note 29 http://www.emc.ncep.noaa.gov/mmb/data_processing/on29.htm
OPeNDAP Open-source Project for a Network Data Access Protocol http://opendap.org/
SIGMET SIGMET-IRIS weather radar http://www.vaisala.com/en/defense/products/weatherradar/Pages/IRIS.aspx
UAMIV CAMx UAM-IV formatted files http://www.camx.com/
UniversalRadarFormat Universal Radar Format ftp://ftp.sigmet.com/outgoing/manuals/program/cuf.pdf
USPLN US Precision Lightning Network http://www.uspln.com/