• The header contains metadata for dimensions, variables, attributes, as well as all attribute values.
• The header may have almost no extra space.
• Advantage: netCDF files are compact, with little overhead
• Disadvantage: schema additions that add metadata may require moving all the data:
  • adding new dimensions, variables, or attributes in an existing file
  • renaming existing dimensions, variables, or attributes with longer names
  • changing an attribute to a larger type or more values, for example a longer text string

2011 Unidata NetCDF Workshop > Formats and Performance