Recipe: Python program to read data from downloaded file

Problem

We want to read a downloaded data file using Python.

Solution

For the purpose of this example, we assume that we have already downloaded the file c1440_NR.inst01hr_3d_T_Cv.20060918_0900z.nc4 from the ftp server. For more information about file naming conventions, and how to download a file from the ftp server, please follow the links in the #See Also section.

Code (using netcdf4-python)

Here we use the netcdf4-python package to read the data file. If the command

> python -c "import netCDF4"

does not return any error, we have the package installed.

See Also

1. Recipe: File naming conventions
2. Recipe: Retrieve (global) data from FTP server