Readers of the 71-page CF Conventions document may get exhausted before reaching the appendices, and miss out on these short, useful references.

Appendix A. Attributes

Table of the 36 CF primary attributes, with the type, use, short description, and link to the full description

Appendix B. Standard Name Table Format

Description of the XML document and schema for the reference standard name table, from which other versions are derived

Appendix C. Standard Name Modifiers

Table describing the four little-known but useful modifiers for standard names: detection_minimum, number_of_observations, standard_error, and status_flag

Appendix D. Dimensionless Vertical Coordinates

Formulas and associated CF formula_term attributes for the following vertical atmosphere coordinates: natural log pressure, sigma, hybrid sigma pressure, hybrid height, and smooth level vertical (SLEVE); and the following ocean vertical coordinates: sigma, s-, sigma over z, and double sigma.

Appendix E. Cell Methods

Table with name, units, and descriptions of each of the 10 cell_methods modifiers for describing quantities not completely specified by the standard_name attribute: point, sum, maximum, median, mid_range, minimum, mean, mode, standard_deviation, and variance.

Appendix F. Grid Mappings

Recognized values for the grid_mapping_name attribute and associated attributes for map parameters. Currently 13 grid mappings are recognized.

2009 Unidata NetCDF Workshop for Developers and Data Providers > CF Conventions