[CF-metadata] the need to store lat/lon coordinates in a CF metadata compliant netCDF file

From: Jonathan Gregory <j.m.gregory>
Date: Wed, 27 Jul 2011 18:05:34 +0100

Dear Dave

> If the CF community intends to consume any ground based data, then datums must be preserved from ingest of ground based forcing throughout data storage and processing. This is fundamental information that is required for ALL data comparison operations.

That is fair enough. I understand why it is may be critical to be precise about
the geolocation of observed data.

However, if it's model data, it could well be argued that is it simply *not
defined*. The model was formulated without regard to the true shape of the
Earth. How to interpret the model data in comparison observed data is therefore
actually a choice the analyst has to make, rather than the data producer. I
would not say that it is unacceptable for different analysts to make different
choices. The choices they make are an aspect of the science they're doing.

There are other such situations. For example, if you wish to produce a higher-
resolution dataset than a model provides, how to do it is a choice you have
to make. It is not part of the model definition. The model knows nothing about
higher resolution, by construction. Further assumptions are needed.

Best wishes

Jonathan
Received on Wed Jul 27 2011 - 11:05:34 BST