GRIB
GRIB is a 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 three versions of GRIB.
Version 0 was used to a limited extent by projects such as TOGA, and is no longer in operational use.
The first edition is used operationally worldwide by most meteorological centers, for Numerical Weather Prediction output.
A newer generation has been introduced, known as GRIB second edition, and data is slowly changing over to this format. Some of the second-generation GRIB are used for derived product distributed in Eumetcast of Meteosat Second Generation. Another example is the NAM model.
Format
GRIB files are a collection of self-contained records of 2D data, and the individual records stand alone as meaningful data, with no references to other records or to an overall schema. So collections of GRIB records can be appended to each other or the records separated.Each GRIB record has two components - the part that describes the record, and the actual binary data itself. The data in GRIB-1 are typically converted to integers using scale and offset, and then bit-packed. GRIB-2 also has the possibility of compression.
GRIB History
GRIB superseded the Aeronautical Data Format.The World Meteorological Organization Commission for Basic Systems met in 1985 to create the GRIB format.
The Working Group on Data Management in February 1994, after major changes, approved revision 1 of the GRIB format.
GRIB Edition 2 format was approved in 2003 at Geneva.
Problems with GRIB Caron, John. https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20120714010331/http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/staff/caron/papers/GRIBarchivals.pdf On the suitability of BUFR and GRIB for archiving data
There is no way in GRIB to describe a collection of GRIB records- Each record is independent, with no way to reference the GRIB writer's intended schema
- No foolproof way to combine records into the multidimensional arrays from which they were derived.
- The use of external tables to describe the meaning of the data.
- No authoritative place for centers to publish their local tables.
- Inconsistent and incorrect methods of versioning local tables.
- No machine-readable versions of the WMO tables
GRIB 1 Header
If a description of the spatial organization of the data is needed, the GDS must be included as well. This information includes spectral vs gridded data, horizontal resolution, and the location of the origin.
Software
Applications
A number of application software packages have been written which make use of GRIB files. These range from command line utilities to graphical visualisation packages.- Commercial numerical weather model data visualization software capable of decoding and displaying both GRIB 1 and GRIB 2 data formats
- Market leading GIS software
- – Expedition is the Sailing navigation and weather application. Grib display and download from many sources is free.
- Command line based program to manipulate, inventory and decode GRIB1 files
- GrADS, free command line based desktop application that directly handles GRIB1 and GRIB2 files
- GRIB 1 C-language free decoding package compatible to some extent with ECMWF GRIBEX routine
- free software for decoding and encoding data in GRIB 1 format
- free software for decoding and encoding data in GRIB 2 format
- - Jgrib is a free library for reading GRIB files in Java.
- - 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.
- Mathematica, a general mathematical, statistical, and presentation application directly handles GRIB files and can map them with many projections
- The NCAR Command Language can be used to read, analyze and visualize GRIB data, as well convert it to other gridded data formats.
- 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.
- is a reader for GRIB 1 and GRIB 2 files.
- is a reader for GRIB 2 files.
- is an API developed at ECMWF to decode and encode GRIB edition 1 and 2 data. Note: this package has now been replaced by which is a superset of GRIB API. A useful set of is also included. ECMWF also offers the plotting package and the Metview workstation/batch system to handle/visualise GRIB files.
- – Ugrib is a no cost graphical GRIB viewer designed for reading GRIB 1 files. The website GRIB.US also aims to provide education on the prudent and safe use of GRIB data for forecasting weather. This link is not working as of 20 May 2017.
- - SmartMet is a Windows tool that reads, writes and visualises GRIB data.
- – Xconv is a graphical tool for displaying and converting gridded data, and is available for most operating systems. Convsh is the command-line equivalent.
- The is a Java library that can read GRIB 1 and GRIB 2 files.
- a graphical software for Linux, Mac OS X and Windows to download and display GRIB 1 and GRIB 2 files.
- started as a fork of zyGirb 8.0.1. It is a multiplatform software also.
- GDAL, a popular open source reading and writing library for geospatial data
- A multi platform app designed for boats heading offshore with a need to download forecast GRIB data on a Satellite or SSB connection.
- an app available on macOS, iOS and iPadOS, designed for sailors and other weather enthusiasts. LuckGrib provides easy access to many GRIB weather models. In addition, several ocean current and wave models are provided. Data can be downloaded via the internet, satellite or email.
- A python language extension module which allows one to read and write GRIB 1 and GRIB 2 formats.
- A navigation application that includes a GRIB viewer, supporting both GRIB 1 and GRIB 2. PolarView includes a service for GFS, NWW3 and RTOFS data from NOAA. Available for Linux, Mac and Windows.
- Open Source Chart Plotter / Marine Navigator. For day to day cruising or advance route planning.
- is an analysis tool for geoscientific data with GRIB support
- is a meteorologically oriented, platform-independent application for visualization and analysis of GRIB1, GRIB2 and NetCDF files.
- A marine navigation application for Windows that includes GRIB overlays on the chart.
- A freeware Windows interface for WGRIB.
- a free software for linux, windows, mac, android, raspberryPi and iOS, with an interface with GPS and routing functions
- an open source Python module for retrieving real-time forecast data from the US National Weather Service. GRIB formatted data is cached and parsed to give the developer access to dozens of up-to-date weather forecast variables. Data is available for the next 7 days for any coordinate within the United States.
- This application processes GRIB files to create weather forecasts which can be animated in 3D HD. The "Routing" version provides also weather routing capabilities based on selected models and polar data, location management. The "Routing & Navigation" version adds navigation features such as NMEA interface, AIS, nautical charts, instrument panels, track recording.
- This application displays GRIB2 fields with OpenGL. Raster, contour, vector, colorbar, mapscale, coastlines, borders. Lat/lon, lambert, gaussian grid. It is possible to look at fields interactively. High resolution fields have been displayed using glgrib.
Mobile Apps
iOS
Several iOS Apps support the GRIB format, including:Several Android Apps support the GRIB format, including: