• Use attribute names from published conventions, such as long_name for a human-readable descriptive name used for labeling plots, for example:

    T:long_name = "surface temperature";  // Use this
    T:plot_label = "surface temperature"; // not this!
  

• For the units attribute, use syntax of the udunits package, when possible.

    concentration:units = "1.0e-6" ;  // Use this
    concentration:units = "ppm" ;   // not this!
  

• Use the standard_name attribute from the CF standard names list, if applicable, to identify the physical quantity that a variable represents.

     float can_tmp(time, lat, lon) ;
       can_tmp:standard_name = "canopy_temperature" ; // This
     float canopy_temperature(time, lat, lon) ;       // not just this
  

• Use numeric values, not string values, for numeric attributes:

      sensor_x:fine_calibration = 23.7 ;   // This, 
      sensor_x:fine_calibration = "23.7" ; // not this!
  

2007 Unidata NetCDF Workshop for Developers and Data Providers > Best Practices