How to convert netCDF to JSON

[geek-hmh]

Who can tell me how to convert netCDF to JSON for this program?thank you

[cwardgar]

We don't support direct conversion of a NetCDF dataset to JSON. However, we do support the representation of NetCDF metadata as NcML. Once you have that, there are many tools online that will convert XML to JSON.

[lesserwhirls]

There was some discussion on the netCDF mailing list about this topic:

http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/mailing_lists/archives/netcdfgroup/2016/msg00245.html

As @cwardgar said, we do not currently return JSON from netCDF-Java or the THREDDS Data Server. However, we are considering this - specifically, we are considering support for CoverageJSON.

What is your particular use case for JSON, @geek-hmh?

[WEP11]

I second this one. Adding JSON output to THREDDS could be a powerful combo with it's existing web GIS capabilities.

My Current Use Case:
"On Click" loading of data from a point in browser-based code. As it stands now, the process is:

1. Get point coordinates
2. Parse X/Y array output from TDS
3. Identify grid for coordinate
4. Parse variable output from TDS for appropriate X/Y location
5. Do the calculations/display you want to do

I could see the parsing quickly cascading into something a developer would want to avoid in larger datasets. Frankly, my current use case might be to use a server side script to work directly with the netCDF file instead of trying to work with the existing services. The desired process might be:

1. Get point coordinates
2. Receive X/Y data in JSON
3. Identify grid for coordinate
4. Receive variable output from TDS for grid point
5. Do the calculations/display you want to do

Even cooler would be the ability to send a coordinate and TDS identify the appropriate grid.

At this time we use in-house server side code to handle this type of work. But I've been experimenting with the TDS WMS capabilities and it'd be pretty awesome if it was a one-stop-shop for bringing netCDF data into the browser. (Sorry for the necro!)

[jonaraphael]

Please! A python netCDF to JSON library would do so much to increase data availability.