[CF-metadata] staggered grids

From: Brian Eaton <eaton>
Date: Wed, 2 Apr 2003 08:09:13 -0700

Hi John,

On Tue, Apr 01, 2003 at 03:31:55PM -0700, John Caron wrote:
> Is there a special way in CF to describe staggered grids, ie certain
> variables in the dataset are defined at midpoints and others on the
> edges of the same grid? I know thats a common situation in models, and
> specifically we are looking at the WRF model with this feature.

CF doesn't currently have any special provisions for staggered grids. The
grid of a variable in CF can be inferred by its dimensions, coordinate
variables, and possibly auxilliary coordinate variables. But there is no
metadata that gives a grid special status as an independent object. A
staggered grid might be represented with metadata that expresses the
logical connections between multiple independent subgrids that are the
actually grids of variables. The fact that the grid of one variable may
well serve as the cell vertices of another is one of the reasons I think we
should have the ability to represent the cell bounds of an (N,M) grid in an
(N+1,M+1) array. But that's another thread...

Brian
Received on Wed Apr 02 2003 - 08:09:13 BST