A simple way to read in all (or some) variables from a netcdf file.

read_netcdf.py

#!/usr/local/bin/python
 
import numpy as np
from netCDF4 import Dataset

##################################################################################
##  Read netCDF Inputs
##  Read data from input netCDF.
##################################################################################
def read_netcdf(ncFile,vars = [],coords = False, verbose = False):
    """
    Read data from input netCDF. Will read all variables if none provided.
    Will also return all variable attributes.
    Both variables (data and attributes) are returned as dictionaries named by variable
    """
    #if verbose: print 'Reading input data vars:', vars, ', from file:',ncFile
    f = Dataset(ncFile,'r')
    if vars==[]: vars = f.variables.keys()
    d={}
    a={}
    if coords:
        if isinstance(vars,str):
            d[vars] = f.variables[vars][coords]
            a[vars] = f.variables[vars].__dict__
        else:
            for var in vars:
                d[var] = f.variables[var][coords]
                a[var] = f.variables[var].__dict__
    else:
        if isinstance(vars,str):
            d[vars] = f.variables[vars][:]
            a[vars] = f.variables[vars].__dict__
        else:
            for var in vars:
                d[var] = f.variables[var][:]
                a[var] = f.variables[var].__dict__
    f.close()
    return d,a