			       Unidata netCDF
				Version 2.4
			       February 1996

The Unidata network Common Data Form (netCDF) is an interface for scientific
data access and a freely-distributed software library that provides an
implementation of the interface.  The netCDF library also defines a
machine-independent format for representing scientific data.  Together, the
interface, library, and format support the creation, access, and sharing of
scientific data.  The current netCDF software provides common C and FORTRAN
interfaces for applications and data.  It has been tested on various common
platforms, including versions of UNIX, MSDOS, OS/2, and VMS.

NetCDF files are self-describing, network-transparent, directly accessible,
and extendible.  `Self-describing' means that a netCDF file includes
information about the data it contains.  `Network-transparent' means that a
netCDF file is represented in a form that can be accessed by computers with
different ways of storing integers, characters, and floating-point numbers.
`Direct-access' means that a small subset of a large dataset may be accessed
efficiently, without first reading through all the preceding data.
`Extendible' means that data can be appended to a netCDF dataset without
copying it or redefining its structure.

NetCDF is useful for supporting access to diverse kinds of scientific
data in heterogeneous networking environments and for writing application
software that does not depend on application-specific formats.  A variety
of analysis and display packages have been developed to analyze and
display data in netCDF form.

You can obtain a copy of the latest released version of netCDF software
using a WWW browser or anonymous FTP from

	ftp://ftp.unidata.ucar.edu/pub/netcdf/netcdf.tar.Z

Included in this distribution are: the C source for the netCDF data access
library, sources for the FORTRAN and C++ interfaces, documentation for the
netCDF library and utilities in the form of a netCDF User's Guide, source
for the netCDF utilities ncdump and ncgen, a directory of test programs to
verify the correct implementation of the netCDF library in new environments,
and a directory of XDR (eXternal Data Representation) source code for
environments that do not support XDR.

More information about netCDF, including a Frequently Asked Questions list and
access to on-line documentation, is available from the URL

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

A mailing list, netcdfgroup@unidata.ucar.edu, exists for discussion of the
netCDF interface and announcements about netCDF bugs, fixes, and
enhancements.  For information about how to subscribe, see the URL

       http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/packages/netcdf/mailing-lists.html

An archive of past postings to the netcdfgroup mailing list is available
for searching from the netCDF home page.

Questions about netCDF may be sent to support@unidata.ucar.edu.
