[CF-metadata] Need help writing point netCDF 3 dataset

[Ethan Davis]

Hi Mark,

It looks OK to me and I can get it to open in both ToolsUI and IDV 
2.1RC2 (but not 2.0).

One problem is that the PointObs tab in ToolsUI isn't very highly 
developed. ToolsUI is more a debugging tool than anything else and for 
PointObs it isn't particularly great for that. First off, you have to 
hit the far-right icon ("arrow pointing down at box") which is the "get 
ALL data" request. Then it will show the points on the map and list them 
to the right. However, it displays all the lat, lon, alt, time stuff but 
not the observation data. We'll try to make it more useful in our next 
pass over the PointObs tab.

What version of the IDV are you using? The data failed to read into IDV 
2.0 but it read fine into IDV 2.1RC2. When I pointed the IDV Data 
Chooser at the file, I also selected "netCDF Point Data files" from the 
"Data Source Type" pull down list. It popped me over to the "Field 
Selector" tab and it gave me two "Point Data" options: Plot and List. I 
don't know how to drive the IDV Point Data interfaces but I could see 
the data when I went with the "Point Data List" option.

Hope this helps. Sorry it isn't a bit more straight forward. Let me know 
if you have more questions

Ethan


Mark Ohrenschall wrote:
> Thanks Ethan, I appreciate it. Here's the current CDL and the attached 
> test file (I wasn't toggling the flower pot icon, just what I was 
> writing to the header):
> netcdf D:/test.nc {
>  dimensions:
>    recNum = UNLIMITED;   // (99 currently)
>  variables:
>    short sst(recNum=99);
>      :standard_name = "sea_surface_temperature aerosol-corrected";
>      :long_name = "Aerosol Corrected SST";
>      :units = "degC";
>      :add_offset = 0.0f; // float
>      :scale_factor = 0.1f; // float
>      :valid_range = -20s, 350s; // short
>      :coordinates = "latitude longitude obstime";
>    short latitude(recNum=99);
>      :standard_name = "latitude";
>      :long_name = "Latitude";
>      :units = "degrees_north";
>      :add_offset = 0.0f; // float
>      :scale_factor = 0.01f; // float
>      :valid_range = -9000s, 9000s; // short
>      :_CoordinateAxisType = "Lat";
>    int obstime(recNum=99);
>      :standard_name = "time";
>      :long_name = "Date and Time of Observation";
>      :units = "seconds since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 GMT";
>      :_CoordinateAxisType = "Time";
>    short longitude(recNum=99);
>      :standard_name = "longitude";
>      :long_name = "Longitude";
>      :units = "degrees_east";
>      :add_offset = 0.0f; // float
>      :scale_factor = 0.01f; // float
>      :valid_range = -18000s, 17999s; // short
>      :_CoordinateAxisType = "Lon";
>
>  :Conventions = "Unidata Observation Dataset v1.0";
>  :title = "Sea Surface Temperatures calculated at points based on satellite observations.";
>  :cdm_datatype = "Point";
>  :observationDimension = "recNum";
>  :geospatial_lat_max = 90; // int
>  :geospatial_lat_min = -90; // int
>  :geospatial_lon_max = 180; // int
>  :geospatial_lon_min = -180; // int
>  :time_coverage_start = "2000-01-01 00:00:00 UTC";
>  :time_coverage_end = "2007-01-01 00:00:00 UTC";
> }
>   
> Cheers *--* Mark

-- 
Ethan R. Davis                                Telephone: (303) 497-8155
Software Engineer                             Fax:       (303) 497-8690
UCAR Unidata Program Center                   E-mail:    edavis at ucar.edu
P.O. Box 3000
Boulder, CO  80307-3000                       http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/
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