CoastWatch Data Analysis Tool Help: Data files

In this section:

Opening and closing

Open a new file using the File|Open menu item or by clicking the Open button on the tool bar:

Once the file has been selected, you must choose the variables to view from the list of available variables. More than one variable may be selected using Ctrl-click (⌘-click on the Mac) or Shift-click. Click OK, and a new tab is added to the file tabs and the first variable is shown in the data view. An open file may be closed by clicking the file tab and selecting File|Close from the menu or by clicking Close on the tool bar.

File information

Once open, a variety of file information may be displayed using the Tools|File Information menu item. Details include the satellite and sensor (or data source), date and time, projection information, spheroid, data origin, file format, variable names and attributes, and earth location boundary data.

Supported file formats

CDAT currently supports the following file formats:

CoastWatch IMGMAP
CoastWatch format (.cwf) files that contain AVHRR SST, cloud, channel, angle, and graphics data. These files were produced by CoastWatch up to 2004.
CoastWatch HDF and netCDF
HDF 4 and netCDF 3 with CoastWatch HDF or CF metadata (.hdf, .nc). CF metadata support is still experimental.
SeaSpace HDF
SeaSpace TeraScan files that have been converted to HDF using tdftohdf. Only the rectangular, polarstereo, mercator, and emercator projections are supported, along with sensor_scan if latitude and longitude angles have been included in the file.
NOAA 1b
NOAA 1b AVHRR data, format versions 1 through 5, GAC or LAC resolutions, 8-bit, 10-bit, and 16-bit sensor word sizes with or without archive header.
OPeNDAP
OPeNDAP datasets with CoastWatch HDF or CF metadata, map projection files only. CF metadata support is still experimental. Swath datasets and RasterPixelIsPoint mode are not supported.

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