Thanks to everybody who responded to an earlier question about time. What we've done is define an attribute time_format of the time variable containing a string giving the format. Now, I have another question. Does anybody do what they tell me are called "sigma coordinates" in netCDF, and if so, how? These are coordinates that are just like rectilinear coordinates, except that the top of the grid is at a fixed level above sea level and the bottom follows the terrain. The levels between the flat top and the deformed bottom are deformed gradually so that for every x and y, the z values are evenly spaced. As you go up, the levels get progressively less and less deformed until they hit the top. Eric Pepke INTERNET: pepke@scri.fsu.edu Supercomputer Computations Research Institute MFENET: pepke@fsu Florida State University SPAN: scri::pepke Tallahassee, FL 32306-4052 BITNET: pepke@fsu Disclaimer: My employers seldom even LISTEN to my opinions. Meta-disclaimer: Any society that needs disclaimers has too many lawyers.