[THREDDS #UCC-670485]: interfacing with ArcGIS

["Unidata THREDDS Support" <support-thredds@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Andrew,

> I am attempting to use data from the THREDDS server in an introductory
> environmental science course exercice utilizing ArcGIS.  The exercise was
> originally developed for MyWorld, which has as very easy interface with the
> THREDDS server but I cannot seem to figure out a way to interface ArcGIS
> with the server.  I would find it tremendously helpfull if I could either:
> A) be directed to a source describing how to download THREDDS data in some
> standard form (ASCII, tab delimited), or connect to the server directly
> through ArcGIS, or,
> B) have one of those process explained to me:).

What THREDDS server are you using, our motherlode server (http://motherlode.ucar.edu:8080/thredds/)?

Depending on the server and the datasets you want to access, you may be able to use the "netCDF Subset" service which includes a web form front end. It provides a mechanism for downloading a subset of a TDS served dataset as a netCDF file. It isn't available for all datasets but on motherlode it is available for most of the model data. Here's an example: from the following dataset link:

http://motherlode.ucar.edu:8080/thredds/catalog/fmrc/NCEP/GFS/Alaska_191km/files/catalog.html?dataset=fmrc/NCEP/GFS/Alaska_191km/files/GFS_Alaska_191km_20070626_1800.grib1

select the "NetcdfSubset" Access link:

http://motherlode.ucar.edu:8080/thredds/ncss/grid/fmrc/NCEP/GFS/Alaska_191km/files/GFS_Alaska_191km_20070626_1800.grib1/dataset.html

From there, you can select variables, time range, and geospatial extent of interest and get a netCDF file of just the data that matches your selection. ArcGIS, as of version 9.2, can read netCDF files (there are some limitations on which netCDF files it can read but it should be able to read all the files from the model data).

I believe ArgGIS 9.3 (which is just out in Beta) can access data through WCS servers. It does not however have an interface to THREDDS catalogs.

Hope this is helpful. Let me know if you have further questions.

Ethan



Ticket Details
===================
Ticket ID: UCC-670485
Department: Support THREDDS
Priority: High
Status: Open