Hi Tom:
Netcdf-Java 2.2 is an integral part of Unidata's plans, and will continue to be
developed for the forseeable future.
It will certainly be able to read NetCDF4 and some HDF5 files, soon after the NetCDF4
format is finished. Writing NetCDF4 will probably come some time later. So I can promise
that anything using the "NetCDF4 profile" of HDF5 will be fully supported by
Netcdf-Java.
I can't guarentee other HDF5 variants. I have looked at an early version of NPOESS and there were some problems I havent had time to address (I havent had time to work on any NetCDF4/HDF5 stuff for a while).
I expect that we will fully access important datasets like NPOESS and EUMETSAT,
but its hard to guarentee that until we know for sure how difficult they are.
Since Netcdf-Java is open source, SSEC or other groups could always jump in and
help out; we are trying to get the code to a place where that can be done in a
modular way.
In practice, it hasnt been hard to make Netcdf-Java read most of the real HDF5
files I have been able to get my hands on. Feel free to forward me examples
that you are interested in. When I can, I will try them out.
I hope that clarifies things, but feel free to ask me specifics.
Regards,
John
Tom Rink wrote:
Hi John,
After NetCDF-4 has been implemented, will the Java-NetCDF
library still be developed and maintained? I'm asking because
future missions such as NPP/NPOESS plan to use HDF5 as
a storage format and EUMETSAT is considering HDF5 as an
archive format for MSG data. Java is a key part in our application
development here at SSEC. Will NetCDF-Java be a reliable
avenue to access HDF5 considering that Java based CDM is an
important part of NetCDF-4?
Cheers,
Tom
