Some best (or at least "not worst") practices have evolved for data providers and for use of netCDF.
Some General Advice for Data Providers
A general list of maxims for data providers.
Purpose of Conventions
Why are conventions needed, if we have standard formats?
Data providers should know and use existing conventions, when practical.
Spatial and temporal location of data are supported by use of coordinate systems.
How you group data into variables can determine whether common analysis and visualization software can effectively use the data.
Conventional variable attributes supply necessary metadata.
Calendar Date and Time
Represent calendar dates and times with standards and conventions.
Packed Data Values
Conventions for packed netCDF data use a smaller data type to save space for low-precision data, for example, packing doubles into shorts.
Missing Data Values
To indicate that data values are missing, invalid, or not written, special values are conventionally used.
Things to remember about netCDF best practices.