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Importing NetCDF datasets without "time_bnds" variable

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Thomas Brauer edited this page Feb 20, 2026 · 11 revisions

If you attempt to import a NetCDF file WITHOUT the time_bnds variable you will receive an error message:

CF compliance check failed: One or more NetCDF datasests do not contain a "time_bnds" variable. Imported start/end times may be inaccurate. Use the time-shifter utility to shift start and/or end times after import.

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If the NetCDF file doesn't include a time_bnds variable, which defines the interval over which the data applies, Vortex doesn't make any guesses about what that might be. For this case data processing happens in two steps:

  1. Use the importer utility to import the data to HEC-DSS and
  2. Use the time-shifter utility to shift the start time and/or end time of the HEC-DSS grids by some amount, e.g. shift the start time by -1 hours.

To recap, you must use two utilities for this import: the importer and the time-shifter!

For cases where non-CF compliant NetCDF files have been published we recommend contacting the author of the data and ask them to include a time_bnds variable to be more explicit about the data interval.

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