Re: 20010510: netCDF version 4

>To: address@hidden
>From: Chad Fox <address@hidden>
>Subject: netCDF version 4
>Organization: Raytheon - Denver Operations
>Keywords: 200105102228.f4AMSKp16069

Hi Chad,

> Hello, my name is Chad Fox and I work for Raytheon in Denver.  I am
> currently working on the National Polar-Orbiting Envioronmental
> Satellite System (NPOESS) ground system.  We are currently evaluating
> different data formats, one of wich is netCDF.  I used netCDF in the
> past in my graduate work at the University of Colorado, so I am somewhat
> familar with its capabilities.  I have several concerns about some of
> the limitations that were pointed out in 'UNIDATA's netCDF Interface for
> Data Access: Status and Plans'.  The paper states that may of these
> limitations will be addressed and taken care of in version 4.  When do
> you expect to release version 4?  I know that HDF has released their
> version 5, which eliminated the 2 gig limitation on file size.  Also, do
> you have any plans for netCDF to become Joint Technical Architecture
> (JTA) compliant in the furture?  I would appreciate any information that
> you can give me.  Thank you for your time.

We applied for resources to develop netCDF 4 last year:

  http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/packages/netcdf/itr/

but the proposal was rejected and we still haven't located resources
to accomplish this work.

Strictly speaking, the size of netCDF files is not limited to 2
Gbytes, so whether you can use it for larger datasets depends on the
structure of the data.  The details are spelled out in this email
reply to a support question about size limitations:

  http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/glimpse/netcdf/4169

As for JTA compliance, this question came up a couple of months ago,
and the answer I wrote then still applies:

  http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/glimpse/netcdf/4140

--Russ