Software

UnidataIn an era of increasing data complexity, accessibility, and multidisciplinary integration, Unidata provides a rich set of software tools to access and visualize data.
GEMPAK northern hemisphere topographic display of AVN model data IDV globe display of jet stream winds and surface pressure McIDAS GOES-East water vapor sector showing geographical extents GEMPAK GOES IR composite with warnings IDV mean sea level air pressure plan view plot McIDAS global water vapor composite image (mollweide projection) GEMPAK wind display of North American Mesoscale model data IDV 3D wind display showing streamlines and speed isosurface McIDAS global sea surface temperature - GOES derived image product GEMPAK WRF/NMM forecast for objectively selected ROI IDV 3D surface topography display McIDAS manually digitized radar image
Display & Analysis Software
Data Access & Management Software
Software Overview

Software A software fact sheet is available to provide a brief overview of Unidata's software packages.

View the software fact sheet
Questions About Unidata Software?

Questions or comments about Unidata software can be sent to: support@unidata.ucar.edu

Display & Analysis Software

Description

AWIPS II AWIPS II is the next generation weather forecasting, display and analysis package currently being developed by the National Weather Service. AWIPS II is a Java application designed to eventually run on multiple platforms, and it incorporates many open source technologies such as Apache Qpid, PostgreSQL and PyPIES.

Go to the AWIPS II home page

AWIPS II Screenshots

Example AWIPS II screenshots:

  • D2D Perspective
  • NCP NSHARP
  • NCP Product Generation
  • Satellite Images
See more GEMPAK visualization examples

Description

GEMPAK GEMPAK, the GEneral Meteorology PAcKage, is an analysis, display, and product generation package for meteorological data. The GEMPAK distribution consists of a suite of application programs, Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs), meteorologic computation libraries, graphic display interfaces, and device drivers for the decoding, analysis, display and diagnosis of geo-referenced and meteorological data.

Go to the GEMPAK home page

GEMPAK Visualization Examples

Examples of GEMPAK analysis and display capabilities:

  • GEMPAK northern hemisphere topographic display of AVN model data
  • GEMPAK GOES IR composite with warnings
  • GEMPAK wind display of North American Mesoscale model data
  • GEMPAK WRF/NMM forecast for objectively selected ROI
See more GEMPAK visualization examples

Description

IDV The Integrated Data Viewer (IDV) from Unidata is a framework for analyzing and displaying geoscience data. Developed using Java, VisAD and other component libraries, the IDV emphasizes interactive 3-Dimensional visualization and integration of diverse data types.

Go to the IDV home page

IDV Visualization Examples

Examples of IDV analysis and display capabilities:

  • IDV globe display of jet stream winds and surface pressure
  • IDV mean sea level air pressure plan view plot
  • IDV 3D wind display showing streamlines and speed isosurface
  • IDV 3D surface topography display
See more IDV visualization examples

Description

McIDAS The Man computer Interactive Data Access System (McIDAS) is a large, research quality suite of applications used for decoding, analyzing, and displaying meteorological data for research and education. McIDAS can be used for visualization and manipulation of geophysical data in a wide variety of formats.

Go to the McIDAS home page

McIDAS Visualization Examples

Examples of McIDAS analysis and display capabilities:

  • McIDAS GOES-East water vapor sector showing geographical extents
  • McIDAS global water vapor composite image (mollweide projection)
  • McIDAS manually digitized radar image
  • McIDAS global sea surface temperature - GOES derived image product
See more McIDAS visualization examples

Data Access & Management Software

Types of Decoders

NetCDF & GRIB Decoders

NetCDF & GRIB Decoders The netCDF & GRIB Decoders are Java and perl decoder packages are used to manage GRIB and Textual Report data. The Grib Java decoder is used in conjunction with Netcdf Java library to convert some or all of the Grib1 or Grib2 data into netCDF files. The perl surface/upperair data decoders convert textual bulletins into netCDF formatted files.

Go to the netCDF/GRIB Decoders home page
LDM-McIDAS Decoders

LDM-McIDAS Decoders The LDM-McIDAS Decoders set of LDM-compatible decoders for products contained in the Unidata-Wisconsin (LDM feed type UNIWISC aka MCIDAS), NIMAGE, FNEXRAD, FSL2, and NLDN data streams that are available by IDD feed to core Unidata sites. Imagery decoded with these decoders are usable by the visualization packages supported by the UPC.

Go to the LDM-McIDAS Decoders home page

Using the Internet Data Distribution (IDD)

Local Data Manager (LDM)

LDM The Unidata Local Data Manager (LDM) system includes network client and server programs designed for event-driven data distribution, and is the fundamental component comprising the Unidata Internet Data Distribution (IDD) system.

Go to the LDM home page
IDD Information

For more information on the Internet Data Distribution (IDD) system please see:

Data Formats

NetCDF

netCDF NetCDF is a set of software libraries and self-describing, machine-independent data formats that support the creation, access, and sharing of array-oriented scientific data.

Go to the netCDF home page
LibCF

LibCF The netCDF CF Library, or libCF, uses the netCDF API to aid in the creation, processing and sharing of scientific data files which conform to the Climate and Forecast (CF) conventions.

Go to the libCF home page
NetCDF Java Library

netCDF Java The netCDF Java Library implements the Common Data Model (CDM) to interface netCDF files and other types of scientific data formats.

Go to the netCDF Java home page
NetCDF Perl

netCDF Perl The netCDF Perl package is a perl extension module for accessing scientific datasets in netCDF format based on version 2 of the netCDF package.

Go to the netCDF Perl home page

Data Transformer

ρζητα

PZHTA ρζητα (pronounced 'rosetta') is a web-based service that provides an easy, wizard-based interface for data collectors to transform their datalogger generated ASCII output into Climate and Forecast (CF) compliant netCDF files.

Go to the ρζητα home page

Data Access

THREDDS Data Server (TDS)

TDS The THREDDS Data Server (TDS) is a web server that provides metadata and data access for scientific datasets, using OPeNDAP, OGC WMS and WCS, HTTP, and other remote data access protocols.

Go to the TDS home page
Did You Know?

THREDDS The THREDDS Data Server is the end result of the Thematic Realtime Environmental Distributed Data Services (THREDDS) project.

See the history of the THREDDS project

Unit Conversion

UDUNITS

UDUNITS UDUNITS supports conversion of unit specifications between formatted and binary forms, arithmetic manipulation of units, and conversion of values between compatible scales of measurement.

Go to the UDUNITS home page
Furlong Per Fortnight

Need to convert miles per hour to furlong per fortnight? The UDUNITS package takes care of all your conversion needs.

Provision of Software

Description of Limitations

Software packages supported by Unidata are available by downloading from the Unidata web site. Software developed by Unidata is licensed under the Lesser GNU Public License (LGPL), or a model similar to LGPL. Other packages, developed by Unidata partners and distributed by the UPC, have specific conditions on access and redistribution. Participants are expected to review and accept the copyright or program-specific conditions for each package downloaded and adhere to them. A basic table of limitations follows:

Software Title or Group General Description of Limitations
GEMPAK/GARP GEMPAK and GARP software are freely available (full source code) to any individual or institution. Unidata will only support unmodified versions of GEMPAK subject to conditions specified in the conditions of support for software.
McIDAS McIDAS software (full source code) is freely available to educational institutions. Redistribution is prohibited without explicit written permission from the University of Wisconsin, Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC), the copyright holder of this software.
LDM, IDV, NetCDF, THREDDS Data Server These applications are copyrighted by UCAR and are intended to be freely available with very minimal restriction.

Questions About Provision of Software?

Questions or comments about the Unidata provision of software can be sent to: support@unidata.ucar.edu