Why do I want to know about HDF and HDF-EOS?

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HDF Resources for EOS Users Carol.L.Boquist_at_nasa.g
ov
Background - As a result of last years HDF
Workshop, titled How Can We Help You?, the HDF
Group joined the EOSDIS User Services Working
Group for a telecon to discuss issues, ways of
working together, and generally to open
communication channels between the two groups.
Many new and existing users might benefit
greatly from having a roadmap to effectively
navigate the complexities of HDF. So, here are
some questions a new user might ask and some
responses to start building that roadmap. I
invite you to weigh in on the process!
One suggestion was to prepare a handout similar
to the now outdated HDF-EOS tri-fold that served
as a guide to the resources available on the
HDF-EOS website. Comments from surveys of the
EOSDIS user community indicate that users find
getting started with HDF/HDF-EOS confusing.
What is the difference between HDF-EOS2 and
HDF-EOS5? HDF-EOS2 and HDF-EOS5 support three
geospatial data types (grid, point, swath) and
HDF-EOS5 also supports a Zonal Average
datatype. HDF-EOS provides uniform access to
diverse data types in a geospatial context. The
HDF-EOS software libraries allow a user to query
or subset the contents of a file by earth
coordinates and time if there is a spatial
dimension in the data. HDF-EOS also provides a
container for EOS inventory, archive and product
specific metadata. I know which product I want.
How do I know which format my data will be
in? HDF-EOS2 - MODIS, MISR, ASTER, Landsat, AIRS
and other EOS instruments HDF-EOS5 - Aura
instruments
Why do I want to know about HDF and
HDF-EOS? Hierarchical Data Format for the Earth
Observing System (HDF-EOS) is NASA's primary
format for standard data products derived from
EOS instruments. HDF-EOS is based on the
Hierarchical Data Format (HDF) which was designed
to facilitate managing and sharing high volume,
complex scientific data, and for mixing varieties
of data types in a single container. What is
the difference between HDF and HDF-EOS? Because
many earth science data structures need to be
geolocated, NASA developed the HDF-EOS format
with additional conventions and data types for
HDF files. HDF includes two formats (HDF4 and
HDF5), software for accessing data in HDF
formats, and applications for working with HDF
data. There are two HDF-EOS versions HDF-EOS2
and HDF-EOS5. HDF-EOS2 uses HDF4 and HDF-EOS5
uses HDF5.
Where can I learn more? HDF Documentation and
Tutorials http//www.hdfgroup.org HDF-EOS Tools
and Information Center http//www.hdfeos.org/