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Time in netCDF

k.prada (kegp%isdl@AQUA.WHOI.EDU)
Wed, 5 Feb 92 11:42:35 GMT

We needed to handle time in the same way for a variety of variable types and
sample rates. These vary from meteorological measurements sampled at one-
minute intervals to platform motion sampled at 4-10 Hz to acoustic sampling
at rates to 25 kHz. Our solution was to use NC_DOUBLE to record seconds
of the year (UTC) accompanied by NC_SHORT containing the year. In some
cases the year is a separate variable and in others it is an attribute of
the time variable.

This approach has permitted some standardization in data handling for all
types of time domain data. Functions for plot and display include axis
generation routines that handle annotations ranging from months to micro-
seconds all derived from the same netCDF variable.

We are pleased with the results so far.

Ken Prada
Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
(508) 457-2000 x2711
kegp@isdl.whoi.edu(128.128.24.142)