tnetcdf-tools.rst - pism - [fork] customized build of PISM, the parallel ice sheet model (tillflux branch)
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       tnetcdf-tools.rst (2108B)
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            1 .. include:: ../../global.txt
            2 
            3 .. _sec-nctoolsintro:
            4 
            5 Handling NetCDF files
            6 ---------------------
            7 
            8 PISM takes one or more NetCDF files as input, performs some computation, and then produces
            9 one or more NetCDF files as output. However, other tools are usually needed to help to
           10 extract meaning from NetCDF files, and yet more NetCDF tools help with creating PISM input
           11 files or post-processing PISM output files.
           12 
           13 Here we list a number of NetCDF tools that can be useful in preparing input data for use
           14 with PISM and post-processing results; see :numref:`tab-NetCDFview`.
           15 
           16 .. list-table:: A selection of tools for viewing and modifying NetCDF files.
           17    :name: tab-NetCDFview
           18    :header-rows: 1
           19 
           20    * - Tool
           21      - Function
           22 
           23    * - ``ncdump`` (part of NetCDF_)
           24      - dump binary NetCDF as ``.cdl`` (text) file
           25 
           26    * - ``ncgen`` (part of NetCDF_)
           27      - convert ``.cdl`` file to binary NetCDF
           28 
           29    * - ncview_
           30      - quick graphical view
           31 
           32    * - CDO_
           33      - Climate Data Operators; command-line tools, including conservative re-mapping
           34 
           35    * - IDV_
           36      - more complete visualization
           37 
           38    * - NCO_
           39      - NetCDF Operators; command-line tools for pre- and post-processing
           40 
           41    * - NCL_
           42      - NCAR Command Language
           43 
           44    * - PyNGL_
           45      - Python version of NCL
           46 
           47 The PISM authors use ``ncview`` and "``ncdump -h``" for quick visualization and metadata
           48 examination. NCO has powerful command-line manipulation of NetCDF files, but requires some
           49 learning. Another such command-line tool is CDO, but to use CDO on PISM files first run
           50 the script ``nc2cdo.py``, from the ``util/`` PISM directory, on the file to fix the
           51 metadata so that CDO will understand the mapping. Finally, Python scripts using the
           52 ``netcdf4-python`` package (see :ref:`sec-installation`) are often the best way to
           53 non-trivially change a NetCDF file or make publishable figures from it. MATLAB also has
           54 good NetCDF I/O capabilities.
           55 
           56 See :numref:`tab-modelhierarchy` in section :ref:`sec-model-hierarchy` for an
           57 overview on the data necessary for modeling. For more information on the format of input
           58 files for PISM, see section :ref:`sec-initboot`.