I have also worked with the ncdf4 package. It appears to be more complex and moreover the files generated by the two pacakges (ncdf4 and RNetCDF) are different. Thus the functions in one do not work on the other. I find that a bit surprising and not in spirit of the netcdf project. Python seems to have a lot more programs for .nc files (even R does better on the maps).
Do you have an example of a netcdf file created with either RNetCDF or ncdf4 that you can't open and process with the other library? In my experience, the files created by either program are interoperable and usable by the other.
I have downloaded climate data twice - some time ago and yesterday. With the older file I used ncdf4 and with the more recent one RNetCDF. For the first I ran: gistemp
Can you explain the values that you entered for the temperature anomaly a little bit better? What are the values in the start and count vectors? What does the value 700 for time signify? It is time slice number 700? It is days since 1800? The documentation that comes with NetCDF is far from insightful. Thanks.
700 in this case is the 700th element in the list. Alone this tells you nothing about what the time is. The value of the 700th element along with the units can be used to calculate the time.
@haraldurkarlsson1147 NA stands for not available. I think there is some consistency with how it is used here. NA as in don't include a start or count for that dimension.
