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 two versions of GRIB, [http://www.wmo.ch/pages/prog/www/WDM/Guides/Guide-binary-2.html first edition] (current sub-version is 2) is used operationally world-wide by all meteorological centers, for Numerical Weather Prediction output (NWP). A newer generation was introduced, known as GRIB [http://www.wmo.ch/pages/prog/www/DPS/FM92-GRIB2-11-2003.pdf second edition] , but it is used only by few centers and in many cases not for operational broadcast. Some of the second-generation GRIB are used for derived product distributed in Eumetcast of Meteosat Second Generation.

GRIB superseded the Aeronautical Data Format (ADF).

oftware

Applications

Several application software packages have been written which make use of GRIB files. These range from command line utilities to graphical visualisation packages.

* [http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/wesley/wgrib.html WGRIB] Command line based program to manipulate, inventory and decode GRIB files
* [http://picogrib.sourceforge.net/ Picogrib] GRIB edition 1 C-language (FORTRAN callable) free decoding package compatible to some extent with ECMWF GRIBEX routine
* [http://www.nco.ncep.noaa.gov/pmb/codes/GRIB1/ NCEP codes] free software (C and FORTRAN library) for decoding and encoding data in GRIB edition 1 format
* [http://www.nco.ncep.noaa.gov/pmb/codes/GRIB2/ NCEP codes] free software (C and FORTRAN library) for decoding and encoding data in GRIB edition 2 format (some template only)
* [http://www.cdc.noaa.gov/people/jeffrey.s.whitaker/python/grib2/ Python grib2 module] reads GRIB 2 files.
* [http://jgrib.sourceforge.net JGrib] - Jgrib is a free library for reading GRIB files in Java.
* [http://meteosatlib.sourceforge.net/ 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.
* [http://www.pyngl.ucar.edu/Nio.shtml 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.
* [http://www.nws.noaa.gov/mdl/degrib/index.php degrib] (aka NDFD GRIB2 Decoder) is a reader for GRIB 1 and GRIB 2 files.
* [http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/wesley/wgrib2/index.html wgrib2] is a reader for GRIB 2 files.
* [http://www.ecmwf.int/products/data/software/grib_api.html GRIB API] is an API developed at ECMWF to decode and encode GRIB edition 1 and 2 data. A useful set of [http://www.ecmwf.int/publications/manuals/grib_api/tools.html command line tools] is also included.
* [http://www.grib.us 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
* [http://badc.nerc.ac.uk/help/software/xconv/ 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.
* [http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/software/decoders/ GRIB Java Decoder] is a free library for reading GRIB1 and GRIB2 files in Java, part of the [http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/software/netcdf-java/ NetCDF Java Common Data Model library]
* [http://zygrib.free.fr zyGrib] a graphical software for linux and windows (GPL3, Qt) to download and display GRIB 1 files (was zUGrib).
* [http://grads.iges.org/grads/ GrADS] Linux/Unix based software that handles GRIB
* GDAL, a general-purpose API for geospatial data; see [http://www.gdal.org/frmt_grib.html]

ee also

* Common Data Format (CDF)
* Hierarchical Data Format (HDF)
* NetCDF
* PP-format
* Global Forecast System

External links

* [http://www.nco.ncep.noaa.gov/pmb/docs/on388/ www.nco.ncep.noaa.gov]
* [http://www.ecmwf.int/products/data/software/grib_api.html www.ecmwf.int] GRIB API