"Creating a great data set can be a life’s work",
Mark Parsons (NSIDC)

• Use published conventions.
• Specify coordinate systems completely.
• Use netCDF variables appropriately.
• Know when to use attributes versus variables.
• Use existing conventions for dates and time.
• Follow best practice recommendations for packing data.
• Use conventions for missing data and fill values.
• Consider participating in conventions development.

Covering this subject comprehensively requires more than a brief workshop session. For more details, please see the web document Writing NetCDF Files: Best Practices.

2012 Unidata NetCDF Workshop > Best Practices for Data providers