Hierarchical Data Format

  ------------------------------------------------------------------------

HDF is a library and platform independent data format for the storage and
exchange of scientific data. It includes C, Fortran, and Java calling
interfaces, and utilities for analyzing and converting HDF data files.

HDF is developed and supported by NCSA, and is freely available. It is used
world-wide in many fields, including Environmental Science, Neutron
Scattering, Non-Destructive Testing, and Aerospace, to name a few.

Scientific projects that use HDF include NASA's Mission to Planet Earth,
and the DOE's Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative.

All ACE data available to the scientific community (Browse, Level 1, Level
2, ancillary) is formatted using HDF.

  ------------------------------------------------------------------------

   * NCSA HDF Home Page - Information, Support, and Software for all
     platforms from the Hierarchical Data Format (HDF) Group of NCSA.

   * HDF News, Libraries and Browsers - For Win95/NT and Macintosh
     platforms.

   * Automatic HDF Code Generation using a perl script (hdfgen.pl) - This
     script, written at ASC, automates many of the steps required to write
     C programs which read/write HDF data files.

   * A description of how ACE Level 2 data is implemented in HDF. Uses SIS
     Level 2 data as an example.

   * The DIAL Experimental Data Server that is being used at the ACE
     Science Center to allow web-browsing of HDF data files was jointly
     developed by Hughes STX and the National Center for Supercomputing
     Applications under contract to NASA/GSFC. The ACE Science Center has
     customized the software for the ACE dataset.

  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our Email Address: asc@srl.caltech.edu

Last Updated: Nov 19, 1999
Return to ASC Home Page