Advice on how to use the interface efficiently is provided in section NetCDF File Structure and Performance . NetCDF can be used as a general-purpose archive format for storing arrays. Hence, using netCDF may require more space than special-purpose archive formats that exploit knowledge of particular characteristics of specific datasets. The names of variables and dimensions should be meaningful and conform to any relevant conventions. Dimensions should have corresponding coordinate variables where sensible.
Attributes play a vital role in providing ancillary information.
It is important to use all the relevant standard attributes using the relevant conventions. A number of groups have defined their own additional conventions and styles for netCDF data. These conventions should be used where suitable. Additional conventions are often needed for local use. These should be contributed to the above netCDF Conventions site if likely to interest other users in similar areas.