Data Files EPIC is a system for management, display and analysis of oceanographic in-situ data. If your data is written into EPIC format, then EPIC programs can be used to diaplay and analyze your data, or presesnt it on the Web. Please read the EPIC System Overview and other EPIC documentations for a basic understanding of the architecture of the EPIC system before proceeding. Many characteristics of EPIC netCDF files are general and apply to all the types of data stored in EPIC, whereas others are specific to the type of data stored in the data file.
Profile data is stored with a single profile in a single datafile.
The profile data file includes all variables measured or calculated for the profile. An example is a CTD data file with measured variables of pressure, temperature, conductivity and oxygen and calculated variables of salinity, density, potential temperature, and potential density. Time series data is stored with a single 1-dimensional time series in a single datafile. This 1-dimensional data is indexed by time. Since time series is taken at a single point, the depth, latitude, and longitude axes each consist of a single value, whereas the time axis will contain many points.