Software tools -- hdf5read -- Reading HDF-5 and HDF-EOS with Fortran-90

Software tools -- hdf5read

Reading HDF-5, HDF-EOS and netCDF-4 with Fortran-90

This module is written to read user selected datasets and attributes from HDF-5, HDF-EOS and netCDF-4 datafiles for further processing without having to go into the details of reading such files. The user only needs to know what he/she wants to read and of what data type (integer, real, string, ...) and rank (scalar, vector, ...) it is.

The package includes a sample data file and a sample program showing how the module has to be used. The routine have been tested on only a few HDF-5, HDF-EOS and netCDF-4 files and does certainly not cover all possible types of data in such files.

Note that netCDF-3 files and some netCDF-4 files of a specific kind cannot be read with these routines, but these files can be converted to the right netCDF-4 format using "nccopy -k 4 foo3.nc foo4.nc".

Data read by the module

The module is designed to read individual, user selected datasets and attributes from an HDF-5, HDF-EOS or netCDF-4 file. The following data types are supported:

0-, 1-, 2-, 3- or 4-dimensional datasets or attributes, which can be of integer, real or double precision data type (0-dim. means here a scalar).
0- and 1-dimensional character strings in attributes or datasets (0-dim. means here a single string, 1-dim. a 1-D array of strings).
0- and 1-dimensional integer, real or double parts of compound attributes or datasets (0-dim. means here a scalar); note that the different parts of a compound set have to be read separately.

Download the module

Current version: 1.95 (23 February 2016)

README.txt -- with some more details
hdf5read.zip -- the full package

In order for the routines to work, it is required that the HDF-5 library package has been installed successfully. Depending on the installation of that library, it may also be necessary to install the Szip library. See the links provided below for info and downloads.

For remarks and suggestion regarding the "hdf5read" module, please contact me or contact Jeroen van Gent.

External links

Some useful links regaring HDF-5:

The HDF Group, provides documentation, software and tools, including:
HDF files can be viewed with, for example, the following programs:
- HDFView
- VISAN, part of the Basic Envisat Atmospheric Toolbox (BEAT)

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