netcdf

• 2025-11-04

  Metadata makes the data format: metadata storage and representation across array formats

  When configured equivalently, COG and Zarr store the exact same data bytes. So what actually distinguishes one raster format from another? Metadata. We get philosophical about what metadata even is, examine how TIFF and Zarr each represent it, tour the various ways geospatial coordinate information is encoded across formats, ask where metadata should live, and make the case that formal, versioned conventions are what truly enable interoperability.
• 2025-07-09

  Chunks and chunkability: an origin story

  Raster data formats are chunked internally, but the cloud has exposed these internal implementation details. We dig into the finer details of chunking to understand how chunking has become something tyrannical, dictating how we can and can’t access data efficiently. Part 2 of 2.