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Re: 20010817: netcdf to hdf conversion

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  • Subject: Re: 20010817: netcdf to hdf conversion
  • Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2001 10:53:52 -0600
>To: address@hidden
>From: Stacy Brodzik <address@hidden>
>Subject: netcdf to hdf conversion
>Organization: UCAR/Unidata
>Keywords: 200108172249.f7HMnl122912

Hi Stacy,

> I'm currently trying to convert some data from netcdf format to hdf format.
> The data files are not very large and contain the normal self-descriptive
> stuff and single 150x150 arrays.  
> 
> I can read in netcdf files using IDL but have no idea how to write out the
> same files in hdf format.  I don't even know if that's possible using IDL.
> 
> Any ideas??

I don't know if it's possible using IDL, either.  To find out, you may
have to ask IDL support.  And it's not clear from the above whether
you want to convert to HDF4 or HDF5, which are different formats.

This used to be a link to a utility program that does this sort of
conversion, but the link no longer works for me:

  http://ioc.unesco.org/iodekit/website/module2/toolbox/netcdfhdf.htm

There's an executable in 

  http://www.aodc.gov.au/IODE/RK/M3/Converters/NetCDF2HDF/_vti_cnf/

that may be usable on Windows systems, but I don't know anything else
about it.

The document

  http://ioc.unesco.org/oceanteacher/resourcekit/M3/Toolbox/HDFViewer.htm
  http://ioc.unesco.org/oceanteacher/resourcekit/M3/Converters..htm

refer to a NetCDF2HDF conversion program.

Another possibility is lats4d, described here:

  http://dao.gsfc.nasa.gov/grads_listserv/msg01894.html

(Apparently the dao.gsfc.nasa.gov server is currently down, so I can't
check this ...)

There's also an experimental approach translating netCDF to HDF5 by
using XML as an intermediate representation, described here:

  http://hdf.ncsa.uiuc.edu/HDF5/XML/nctoh5/writeup.htm

Finally, DODS

  http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/packages/dods/

supports an HDF interface that can read some netCDF files, but the
netCDF files would have to be made available by a DODS server:

If none of these work for you, you may have to write a program that
reads your data using a netCDF interface and writes it out using an
HDF interface.

--Russ