UCAR/Unidata - An NSF-Funded Data Software Center for Universities


            _A_d_d_r_e_s_s:
               UCAR/Unidata Program Center
               P.O. Box 3000
               Boulder, CO 80307

            _E_m_a_i_l: support@unidata.ucar.edu

            _P_h_o_n_e: (303) 497-8644
               FAX: (303) 497-8690


            _D_e_s_c_r_i_p_t_i_o_n

            Unidata is a national program to help  universities  acquire
            weather  data  and  to  analyze  and  display those data for
            teaching and research. The program is funded by the National
            Science Foundation and managed by the University Corporation
            for Atmospheric Research. Unidata negotiates  a  group  con-
            tract  with  a  commercial  data-broadcasting  firm  so that
            universities may receive weather data at a  discount.   Uni-
            data   develops  and  distributes  software  for  capturing,
            analyzing, and displaying those data locally.  Unidata  also
            advocates  on  behalf  of  universities  on  data  issues in
            Federal and other arenas.

            Unidata-developed software includes the Unidata  Local  Data
            Manager  (LDM), which captures real-time weather data from a
            satellite  broadcast,  and  netCDF,  a  network-transparent,
            self-describing  form  for storing scientific data.  The LDM
            is being enhanced to allow users to capture and forward data
            over the Internet.

            Unidata  distributes  applications  software  developed  and
            licensed  by  universities.  These  are  Purdue University's
            Weather Processor (WXP) and the  University  of  Wisconsin's
            McIDAS-OS2  and  McIDAS-X  software.  WXP  and  McIDAS-X are
            UNIX-based applications; McIDAS-OS2 runs on  PS/2  computers
            with the OS/2 operating system. Unidata also distributes and
            supports the UNIX version  of  NASA's  GEMPAK  (for  General
            _________________________
            The information in this section is provided  in  accor-
            dance  with the copyright notice appearing at the front
            of this guide.




            August 20, 1992             NNSC       Section 3.23,  Page 1








            Meteorological Package) and  a  UNIX-based,  general-purpose
            data-analysis  and  image-processing research package called
            YNOT, developed by MacDonald Dettwiler under a Unidata  con-
            tract.

            Unidata provides bug fixes, upgrades, and software distribu-
            tions  over  the Internet. Software support includes forming
            and maintaining  special-interest  mailing  lists,  offering
            advice  on  hardware  acquisitions,  and  holding semiannual
            training workshops in the use of Unidata-supported software.
            Consultation  with users is conducted via email. The program
            also publishes a quarterly newsletter.

            _N_e_t_w_o_r_k _A_c_c_e_s_s

            Unidata is connected via a LAN to NCAR, an  NSFNET  backbone
            site.   All  software  is  distributed  via ftp. The Unidata
            NetCDF software  is  freely  available;  you  can  access  a
            compressed  tar  file  ("cd  incnetcdf.tar.Z"  in  directory
            "pub") via anonymous ftp from "unidata.ucar.edu".

            _W_h_o _C_a_n _U_s_e _t_h_e _S_o_f_t_w_a_r_e

            The Unidata netCDF software is freely available.  All  other
            Unidata  software is restricted to universities and requires
            licenses.

























            August 20, 1992             NNSC       Section 3.23,  Page 2