In this section:
The current data download format is NCSA Hierarchical Data Format (HDF) with CoastWatch metadata (CW HDF). Each data file contains one or more HDF SDS variables with variable-specific attributes and a set of global file attributes describing the date, time, satellite, sensor, and map projection. Advanced users who need more details on each attribute value in the HDF file can consult the CoastWatch HDF Metadata Specification appendix in the CoastWatch Utilities user's guide, linked from the data formats page at http://coastwatch.noaa.gov. Software tools and libraries for HDF data access may be found at http://hdf.ncsa.uiuc.edu. Users who only need to view data files or convert data to other formats can use the CoastWatch Utilities software, available from the software page at http://coastwatch.noaa.gov. The CoastWatch Utilities include the CoastWatch Data Analysis Tool (CDAT) for viewing data, creating customized data plots, data conversion to ArcGIS, and other useful features.
OPeNDAP is a network data transport protocol specifically designed for scientific data. Users familiar with OPeNDAP can use the form to selectively download data from the file, either to ASCII text or to an OPeNDAP client. See http://www.opendap.org for more details.