CF Standard Names

18.6 CF Standard Names

The CF Standard Name Table version 20 currently includes over 2400 entries, from "age_of_sea_ice" to "zenith_angle".

A CF standard name is not a netCDF variable name, but instead a value for the standard_name variable attribute.
The standard_name attribute identifies the physical quantity of a variable, for example "air_temperature", "divergence_of_wind", "plant_respiration_carbon_flux", or "tendency_of_atmosphere_mass_content_of_particulate_organic_matter_dry_aerosol_due_to_net_production_and_emission".
The CF standard name table includes a precise definition of each quantity named, e.g. for the long standard_name above, it includes this definition
The standard name is independent of units of measure. Conformable units are specified in the units attribute, e.g. "kg m-2 s-1".
The standard name is also independent of coordinate variables used to describe its variation.
As a standard for naming physical quantities, the table of names and definitions is independent of netCDF.
There are Guidelines for constructing CF standard names, and anyone can propose and justify the need for new names.