netCDF
Network Common Data Form
Documentation
NetCDF is a suite of libraries for system and machine independent generation, access and exchange of array oriented scientific data. The NetCDF libraries contain the interface for C, FORTRAN77, FORTRAN90 and C++. The libraries come with some binaries to access, and reformat netcdf-formatted data.
Visit the unidata netcdf web page for detailed documention.
Versions
The following versions are available:
| Module | Version | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| netcdf-c | 4.9.2 | standard |
| netcdf-c | 4.9.2-precise-fp | precise floating point |
| netcdf-fortran | 4.6.1 | standard |
| netcdf-fortran | 4.6.1-precise-fp | precise floating point |
| netcdf-fortran | 4.5.3-hdf5-1.10 | linked against HDF5 1.10 |
| netcdf-fortran | 4.5.3-hdf5-1.10-precise-fp | linked against HDF5 1.10, precise floating point |
Modulefiles and environmental variables
Note that netcdf-fortran requires a compiler and MPI module to be loaded first.
Run module spider netcdf-fortran/<version> to see which modules are required.
To load a netcdf module, first load one of these combinations:
intel-oneapi-compilers/2025.0.0+openmpi/4.1.7intel-oneapi-compilers/2025.0.0+intel-oneapi-mpi/2021.14.0intel-oneapi-compilers-classic/2021.10.0+intel-oneapi-mpi/2021.14.0
Then load the netcdf module:
module load netcdf-c/<version>
module load netcdf-fortran/<version>
Loading a NetCDF modulefile extends PATH with the path to the NetCDF binaries. This includes nc_config and nf_config, which can be used to gain information on the path to include files and libraries in compiler scripts and makefiles. Use:
module show netcdf-c/<version>module help netcdf-fortran/<version>
to investigate details on exported environment variables.
LD_RUN_PATH is extended when a netcdf-module is loaded. It can be used to define rpath in the binaries.
The netcdf-modules are not needed to run programs linked to a netcdf library!
Example to compile smp-programs using the netcdf library
Here we demonstrate the usage of environmental variables to find the netcdf - include files and to link the netcdf libraries.
Installing netcdf
We discuss the installation of serial and parallel netcdf at HLRN