Opening a Data File

To start the CoastWatch Data Analysis Tool (CDAT), either:

• Windows: Find it in your Windows Start Menu.
• Linux: Find it in the bin/ directory of your software installation, or type 'cdat' from a command prompt.
• Mac: Find it in the bin/ directory of your software installation, inside your Applications folder.

Once started, CDAT shows a blank window, similar to a web browser with no web page loaded.  Each file opened in CDAT creates a new tab.  There are several ways to open the example sea surface temperature (SST) data file created from Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data:

• Drag and drop it onto the CDAT window (the easiest method).
• Click the  Open button on the CDAT toolbar and select the file.
• Use the File menu and click Open, then select the file.

When the file is selected, CDAT shows the file contents:

To load a set of variables from the data file, select them in the list (you can Ctrl-click to select more than one or ⌘-click on Mac), then click OK to continue.  At a minimum for this exercise, select sea_surface_temperature and quality_level.

Bonus exercises:

• Try loading other variables such as wind_speed or sst_front_position. 
• Watch part of a YouTube video Links to an external site. on starting CDAT and loading data from a NOAA 1b AVHRR data file.