Learn How to View .he5 Files Easily | NASA NOAA Ozone Data Guide

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around how to view and extract data from .he5 files, specifically related to ozone data from NASA NOAA. Participants share their experiences and tools for handling this file format, which is used for large datasets.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant inquires about how to view .he5 files after attempting to download ozone data from a NASA NOAA website.
  • Another participant critiques the outdated nature of the download instructions and suggests that the .he5 format may require custom software to extract data, noting the existence of other standards like FITS.
  • A third participant mentions successfully downloading HDFView, a program that can read .he5 files, and provides a brief rationale for the use of this file format by NASA.
  • A forum moderator moves the thread to a more appropriate section labeled "computers."

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express varying levels of familiarity with the .he5 file format, with some agreeing on the need for specific software to access the data, while others highlight the limitations of the current documentation. There is no consensus on the appropriateness of the file format used by NASA.

Contextual Notes

Participants note the potential challenges in extracting data from .he5 files and the reliance on specific software tools, but do not resolve the issues surrounding the file format's design or its documentation.

Who May Find This Useful

Individuals interested in accessing and analyzing NASA NOAA ozone data, as well as those working with .he5 file formats in scientific research or data analysis.

Astroman
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How to view .he5 file??

Not sure if this is the right place in the forum to ask this question. If it isn't, feel free to move it to the appropriate section.

I am trying to obtain some data from the NASA NOAA website for a project I am working on, namely some ozone data from this page:

http://daac.gsfc.nasa.gov/daac-bin/whom/mk_page_cgi.pl?PATH=datapool/MLS_DP/Level2.002/ML2O3/2008/06/06

I checked where it said 'select' in the data file box, then narrrowed down my spatial setting to the region where I needed the data. After clicking the 'submit subset request' I reach a page that has this:

Subsetted Data Download Instructions:

Single file download: click on the file: MLS-Aura_L2GP-O3_v02-23-c01_2008d158.SUB.he5

Multiple file download:
Download the FTP_script: order_21205.txt
On SGI or Linux machine, run: ftp -p -n acdisc.gsfc.nasa.gov < order_21205.txt
On DOS, SunOS or Windows/Mac platforms, run: ftp -n acdisc.gsfc.nasa.gov < order_21205.txt

My question is, how does one view a .he5 file?? I have never seen this before. Additionally, this page attempts to offer assitance but I have no idea what it is telling me to do:

http://daac.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/datapool/HELP/DATAPOOL/A_access_data.shtml


Can anyone offer any help as to how to extract and view this data?? Or if possible, can someone just extract it and paste it here? Thanks for any help you can give me, this is sort of important.
 
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The page just describes how to downloadthe files from ftp - useful advice for 1990 but less so now.

googling ".he5 file" the first two hits gives papers describing the file format, it looks like you will have to write something to extract the data.
Odd that they should use such an opaque binary file format when there are already NASA standards like FITS for this sort of thing.
 


Thanks. Managed to download a program called HDFView that reads those kinds of files directly. I guess the latest creation of the Hierarchical Data Format for Earth Observing System related data, or the so-called "he5" data file, is used by NASA in instances where there is a lot of data that would otherwise create a prohibitively large sized file. Who knows, who really cares. Just glad I found a program to read it.
 


Moved to "computers" since I think it fits best here.