GRIB
GRIB (GRIdded Binary) is a mathematically concise data format commonly used in meteorology to store historical and forecast weather data. It is standardized by the World Meteorological Organization's Commission for Basic Systems, known under number GRIB FM 92-IX, described in WMO Manual on Codes No.306. Currently there are three versions of GRIB. Version 0 was used to a limited extent by projects such as TOGA, and is no longer in operational use. The first edition (current sub-version is 2) is used operationally world-wide by most meteorological centers, for Numerical Weather Prediction output (NWP). A newer generation has been introduced, known as GRIB second edition, and data is slowly changing over to this format. Some of the second-generation GRIB are used for derived product distributed in Eumetcast of Meteosat Second Generation. Another example is the NAM (North American Mesoscale) model.
GRIB superseded the Aeronautical Data Format (ADF).
Software
Applications
Several application software packages have been written which make use of GRIB files. These range from command line utilities to graphical visualisation packages.
- WGRIB Command line based program to manipulate, inventory and decode GRIB files
- Picogrib GRIB edition 1 C-language (FORTRAN callable) free decoding package compatible to some extent with ECMWF GRIBEX routine
- NCEP codes free software (C and FORTRAN library) for decoding and encoding data in GRIB edition 1 format
- NCEP codes free software (C and FORTRAN library) for decoding and encoding data in GRIB edition 2 format (some template only)
- JGrib - Jgrib is a free library for reading GRIB files in Java.
- Meteosatlib - Meteosatlib is a free software C++ library and set of tools to convert satellite images between various formats; it can read and write GRIB data, and its GRIB encoding/decoding library can be used standalone.
- The NCAR Command Language can be used to read, analyze and visualize GRIB data, as well convert it to other gridded data formats.
- PyNIO is a Python programming language module that allows read and/or write access to a variety of data formats using an interface modelled on netCDF.
- degrib (aka NDFD GRIB2 Decoder) is a reader for GRIB 1 and GRIB 2 files.
- wgrib2 is a reader for GRIB 2 files.
- GRIB API is an API developed at ECMWF to decode and encode GRIB edition 1 and 2 data. A useful set of command line tools is also included.
- Ugrib – Ugrib is a no cost graphical GRIB viewer designed for reading GRIB1 files. The website GRIB.US also aims to provide education on the prudent and safe use of GRIB data for forecasting weather
- SmartMet - SmartMet is a Windows tool that reads, writes and visualises GRIB data
- Xconv/Convsh – Xconv is a graphical tool for displaying and converting gridded data, and is available for most operating systems. Convsh is the command-line equivalent.
- GRIB Java Decoder is a free library for reading GRIB1 and GRIB2 files in Java, part of the NetCDF Java Common Data Model library
- zyGrib a graphical software for Linux, Mac OS X and Windows (GPL3, Qt) to download and display GRIB 1 files.
- GrADS, Linux/Unix based desktop application that handles GRIB [1]
- GDAL, a general-purpose API for geospatial data
- PyGrib2 A Google Code project which allows one to read and write the GRIB2 format.
- PolarView A free chart planning software that includes a GRIB viewer, supporting both GRIB 1 and GRIB 2. Available for Linux, Mac and Windows.
See also
References
- ^ Walter Zwieflhofer (2004), Realizing Teracomputing: Proceedings of the Tenth Ecmwf Workshop on the Use of High Performance Computers in Meteorology, World Scientific, p. 112, ISBN 978-9812383761
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