Questions related to NetCDF (Network Common Data Form) format and corresponding libraries/implementations may have this tag.
In 2008, the netCDF4 format was added to support per-variable compression, multiple unlimited dimensions, more complex data types, and better performance, by layering an enhanced netCDF access interface on top of the HDF5 format.
At the same time, a fourth format variant, netCDF-4 classic model format, was added for users who needed the performance benefits of the new format (such as compression) without the complexity of a new programming interface or enhanced data mode.
Every netCDF-4 or netCDF-4 classic model file can be read or written by the HDF5 library version 1.8 or later, so in that respect netCDF-4 files are already HDF5 files and need no conversion.
According to netCDF FAQ installing the netCDF4 is required for any of the following situations:
- you need to access netCDF data that makes use of netCDF-4 compression or chunking
- you need to access data in all netCDF formats including netCDF-4 or netCDF-4 classic model formats
- you need to write non-record variables larger than 4GiB or record variables with more than 4GiB per record
- you are installing netCDF to support other software packages that require netCDF-4 features
- you want to write data that takes advantage of compression, chunking, or other netCDF-4 features
- you want to be able to read netCDF-4 classic model data with no changes to your current software except relinking with the new library
- you want to benchmark your current applications with the new libraries to determine whether the benefits are significant enough to justify the upgrade
- you need to use parallel I/O with netCDF-4 or netCDF-4 classic files
