"},{"ID":367942,"user_firstname":"Nishani","user_lastname":"Moragoda","nickname":"Nishani Moragoda","user_nicename":"nmoragoda","display_name":"Nishani Moragoda","user_email":"nmoragoda@esri.com","user_url":"","user_registered":"2025-01-27 18:56:00","user_description":"Nishani Moragoda is a Product Engineer on the ArcGIS Spatial Analyst team at Esri. Her background is in hydrology, sediment flux modeling, and climate change impacts, with a special focus on multidimensional scientific data analysis. She completed her MS and PhD in Geography from the University of Alabama before joining Esri.","user_avatar":"
"}],"short_description":"Learn how to explore and understand NetCDF files with ArcGIS Pro's Describe NetCDF File tool. Discover dimensions, variables, and attributes. ","flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"With <\/span>increasing capabilities to measure and model the world around us, <\/span>netCDF<\/span> (Network Common Data Form) has become a widely used format for analyzing and sharing multidimensional scientific data.<\/span> ArcGIS Pro now <\/span>allows you<\/span> to describe the nature and contents of <\/span>netCDF<\/span> datasets<\/span>\u2014<\/span>listing <\/span>their <\/span>dimensions, variables, and associated attributes<\/span>\u2014<\/span>by <\/span>specify<\/span>ing<\/span> a<\/span> n<\/span>etCDF<\/span> file as input to the <\/span><\/span>Describe <\/span>NetCDF File<\/span><\/span><\/a> tool. <\/span>T<\/span>o save this information for future reference, you can <\/span>specify an output text file. <\/span>Regardless of whether you specified an output description file<\/span>, the tool displays the description directly in the <\/span><\/span>Geoprocessing Messages<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong> pane, which you can<\/span> also <\/span>access <\/span>from the <\/span><\/span>History<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong> pane in <\/span>an<\/span> ArcGIS Pro project. See th<\/span>e following<\/span> video <\/span>for<\/span> a quick overview:<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"kaltura","video_id":"1_7z1h0yts","time":false,"start":0,"stop":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":" Let\u2019s use the <\/span>Describe NetCDF File<\/span><\/b> tool to understand the structure and contents of netCDF datasets.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In ArcGIS Pro, search for the <\/span>Describe NetCDF File<\/span><\/b> tool. After opening the tool, under the <\/span>Input NetCDF File<\/span><\/b> parameter, click the <\/span>B<\/span><\/b>rowse<\/span><\/b> button to specify the input netCDF file. Browse to the location of a netCDF file and select it.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2657032,"id":2657032,"title":"dialogbox","filename":"dialogbox.png","filesize":8649,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/02\/dialogbox.png","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-pro\/analytics\/explore-a-netcdf-file\/dialogbox","alt":"","author":"363482","description":"","caption":"Geoprocessing dialog box for the Describe NetCDF File tool ","name":"dialogbox","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2655522,"date":"2025-01-22 23:38:54","modified":"2025-01-22 23:41:49","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":473,"height":267,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/02\/dialogbox-213x200.png","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/02\/dialogbox.png","medium-width":462,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/02\/dialogbox.png","medium_large-width":473,"medium_large-height":267,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/02\/dialogbox.png","large-width":473,"large-height":267,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/02\/dialogbox.png","1536x1536-width":473,"1536x1536-height":267,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/02\/dialogbox.png","2048x2048-width":473,"2048x2048-height":267,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/02\/dialogbox.png","card_image-width":473,"card_image-height":267,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/02\/dialogbox.png","wide_image-width":473,"wide_image-height":267}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":" The following example uses the <\/span>NOAA Monthly U.S. Climate Gridded Dataset (NClimGrid)<\/span><\/a>. To save the output description, specify a path and file<\/span> name in the <\/span>Output Description File<\/span><\/b> parameter. You can choose from the following formats:\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n After the tool runs, you can click <\/span>V<\/span><\/b>iew <\/span><\/b>D<\/span><\/b>etails<\/span><\/b> from the status banner and go to the <\/span>Geoprocessing Messages<\/span><\/b> pane to view the output description of the netCDF file’s contents. The output includes the following information:\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The description is also saved as a text file if you specified the <\/span>O<\/span><\/b>utput <\/span><\/b>D<\/span><\/b>escription <\/span><\/b>F<\/span><\/b>ile<\/span><\/b>. By choosing the <\/span>.md<\/span> format, you can view the output in a more visually formatted way, making it easier to read with a markdown viewer or editor such as Visual Studio Code, Typora, or GitHub.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Some netCDF files may contain <\/span>groups<\/span>, which allow data to be organized hierarchically within the file<\/span>,<\/span> –<\/span> similar to folders and subfolders. This is especially useful for complex datasets. In that case, you’ll find that the <\/span>Groups<\/span><\/b> table has been added to the top of the output.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2657072,"id":2657072,"title":"markdown","filename":"markdown.png","filesize":68237,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/02\/markdown.png","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-pro\/analytics\/explore-a-netcdf-file\/markdown","alt":"","author":"363482","description":"","caption":"Preview of a markdown file generated by the Describe NetCDF File tool using SWOT data. ","name":"markdown","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2655522,"date":"2025-01-22 23:42:41","modified":"2025-01-22 23:42:53","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":642,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/02\/markdown-213x200.png","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/02\/markdown.png","medium-width":233,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/02\/markdown.png","medium_large-width":642,"medium_large-height":720,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/02\/markdown.png","large-width":642,"large-height":720,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/02\/markdown.png","1536x1536-width":642,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/02\/markdown.png","2048x2048-width":642,"2048x2048-height":720,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/02\/markdown-415x465.png","card_image-width":415,"card_image-height":465,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/02\/markdown.png","wide_image-width":642,"wide_image-height":720}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":" Once you have reviewed the variables and structure of the netCDF file, you can determine which ArcGIS Pro tool best fits the data. For example, you can use <\/span>Make Multidimensional Raster Layer<\/span><\/b><\/a> for grid-based variables and <\/span>NetCDF Points To Feature Class<\/span><\/b><\/a> for point-based data.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This is how the <\/span>Describe NetCDF File<\/span><\/b> tool in ArcGIS Pro explores and understands complex netCDF datasets. Whether you’re new to netCDF or looking for a more efficient way to inspect your files, this tool provides a solution to work with multidimensional scientific data.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n References:<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n NOAA. (2024). <\/span>NOAA Monthly U.S. Climate Gridded Dataset (NClimGrid)<\/span><\/i>. National Centers for Environmental Information. Retrieved from <\/span>https:\/\/www.ncei.noaa.gov\/access\/metadata\/landing-page\/bin\/iso?id=gov.noaa.ncdc%3AC00332<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n
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