{"categories":[{"label":"Python Modules","url":"https://skillfed.io/packages/category/software-development-libraries-python-modules/4"},{"label":"Compression","url":"https://skillfed.io/packages/category/system-archiving-compression"}],"enrichment":{"capability":"netcdf4 provides a Python interface to read, write, and manipulate netCDF version 4 files through bindings to the netCDF C library.","skillfed_tags":["scientific-data","climate-meteorology","hdf5-netcdf"],"use_cases":["Read and analyze climate model output or observational data stored in netCDF format for research or forecasting.","Create and write multidimensional scientific datasets with compression and metadata for archival or sharing.","Access remote netCDF files via OpenDAP https URLs for distributed data analysis workflows.","Convert between netCDF and other formats, or manipulate existing files to add/modify variables and attributes.","Process time-series data from meteorological or oceanographic instruments using calendar-aware time coordinates."],"what_it_does":"netcdf4 is a Python wrapper around the netCDF C library that lets you work with netCDF version 4 files\u2014a widely used format in climate, meteorology, and oceanography for storing multidimensional scientific data. It provides an object-oriented API to create, read, and modify netCDF datasets, including support for complex numbers, multiple compression algorithms (zstd, bzip2, blosc via plugins), and quantization for improved compression. The package depends on numpy for array operations, cftime for calendar-aware time handling, and certifi for SSL certificate validation in OpenDAP https URLs.\n\nThe library is maintained by Unidata and actively developed; version 1.7.4 (released January 2026) includes compression plugins in wheels, free-threaded Python support, and improved Unicode string handling. It requires Python 3.10 or later and provides precompiled wheels for macOS, Linux, and Windows across multiple architectures. A notable caveat: the underlying netCDF C library is not thread-safe, and while netcdf4-python includes internal locking, the documentation warns that free-threaded Python users must exercise care to call netCDF only from a single thread to avoid segfaults.","worth_installing":"Yes, if you work with netCDF files in scientific computing. The package is actively maintained, well-established (since 2006), has no known vulnerabilities, and provides convenient Python access to a standard data format. Install friction is moderate but manageable via precompiled wheels. The single-thread requirement for free-threaded Python is a gotcha only if you use that runtime; standard Python users are unaffected."},"id":"netcdf4","links":{"html":"https://skillfed.io/packages/netcdf4","md":"https://skillfed.io/packages/netcdf4.md","pypi":"https://pypi.org/project/netcdf4/"},"maintenance":{"status":"active"},"meta":{"latest_release":"2026-01-05","license_spdx":"MIT","license_treatment":"permissive","name":"netCDF4","python_support":"supports_current","summary":"Provides an object-oriented python interface to the netCDF version 4 library"},"popularity":{"monthly_downloads":4747772,"position":2241,"tier":"top_5000"},"security":{"n_vulnerabilities":0},"version":"1.7.4"}