NetCDF (Network Common Data Form)
Open BetaNetCDF is a self-describing binary format for scientific data and the de facto standard in climate science, oceanography, and satellite remote sensing (ERA5, CMIP6, MODIS). On osm2cdr the OSM to .nc export works honestly like this: for each layer we take feature centroids (longitude/latitude) plus their attributes and write them through xarray as variables sharing a feature-index axis. The result is a compact point dataset with metadata (title, source, bbox), not a ready-made climate density grid cube — that would require a separate aggregation step. The file opens in xarray, Panoply, GDAL, and any NetCDF tool.
Belangrijkste functies
Over het NetCDF-formaat
NetCDF is a self-describing binary container for scientific data: along with the numbers it holds variable names, dimensions and attributes, so the file can be read without external schemas and many years later. In climatology, oceanography and remote sensing it is the working standard — ERA5, CMIP6 and MODIS products are distributed in it.
Exporting OSM into .nc is needed where city objects have to end up in the same pipeline as scientific data: mixing points of interest into a climate sample in xarray, attaching a slice of terrain to a study, practising on real data with CDO, NCO and ncdump.
The export is arranged honestly and simply: for each layer the centroids of the objects (longitude and latitude) and their attributes are taken and written through xarray as variables on a common object-index axis; layers are merged into one file with the global attributes title, source and the area bounds. This is a point dataset, not a ready gridded density cube — a cell grid has to be built by a separate aggregation. The shape of polygons and lines is not preserved in such a transfer: if you need geometry, take GeoJSON or GeoPackage.
Welk programma opent NetCDF-bestanden
De volgende programma's en toepassingen kunnen NetCDF (Network Common Data Form)-bestanden (.nc) die uit OSM2CDR zijn geëxporteerd openen, bewerken en verwerken:
Format specifications
- Open standard
- 2D only
- Lossless (no quality loss)
- Stores feature attributes
- Output: 1 file
- A single .nc written via xarray: feature centroids (lon/lat) and attributes share a feature-index axis; a point dataset with metadata, not a density grid cube.
Wie gebruikt NetCDF-kaarten
NetCDF exporteren
Openen na de export
- Panoply (free, NASA GISS) — open the .nc and quickly see which variables and how many objects are inside, without writing any code.
- Python and xarray — xarray.open_dataset("map.nc") and then the usual work with a dataset: slices, merging with your own arrays, export into other formats.
- ncdump -h map.nc — show the file structure in a terminal in a second: variables, dimensions, global attributes.
- CDO and NCO — if the file has to be mixed into an existing climate pipeline: merging, cropping, renaming variables.
- QGIS through the GDAL NetCDF driver — a visual check that the points landed where they were expected on the map.
Populaire kaarten in NetCDF
Ontvang NetCDF (Network Common Data Form)-kaartexports
Download professionele NetCDF-kaarten van OpenStreetMap. Directe generatie, elk gebied.