NetCDF (network Common Data Form) is a set of interfaces for
array-oriented data access and a freely-distributed collection of data
access libraries for C, Fortran, C++, Java, and other languages. The
netCDF libraries support a machine-independent format for representing
scientific data. Together, the interfaces, libraries, and format support
the creation, access, and sharing of scientific data.

NetCDF data is:

   * Self-Describing. A netCDF file includes information about the
   data it contains.  
   * Portable. A netCDF file can be accessed by computers with different 
   ways of storing integers, characters, and floating- point numbers.  
   * Scalable. A small subset of a large dataset may be accessed 
   efficiently.  
   * Appendable. Data may be appended to a properly structured netCDF 
   file without copying the dataset or redefining its structure.  
   * Sharable. One writer and multiple readers may simultaneously access
   the same netCDF file.
   * Archivable. Access to all earlier forms of netCDF data will be
   supported by current and future versions of the software.

The netCDF software was developed by Glenn Davis, Russ Rew, Ed Hartnett,
John Caron, Steve Emmerson, and Harvey Davies at the Unidata Program
Center in Boulder, Colorado, with contributions from many other netCDF
users.
