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    I think I may have found the explanation (thanks to Eric Firing and
    Sharon DeCarlo):<br>
    <br>
    From <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/JulianDate.php">http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/JulianDate.php</a><br>
    <br>
    The Julian date for CE&nbsp; 1999 July 20 00:00:00.0 UT is<br>
    JD 2451379.500000<br>
    The Julian date for CE&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 1 January&nbsp; 1 00:00:00.0 UT is<br>
    JD 1721423.500000<br>
    <br>
    So the time of the QSCAT start since the year 1 origin is 729956
    days. This agrees with <br>
    the GrADS/GDS accounting.<br>
    <br>
    Eric Firing looked into all and summarized it here:<br>
    <br>
    <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://matplotlib.org/api/dates_api.html">http://matplotlib.org/api/dates_api.html</a><br>
    <br>
    I suspect that what netCDF4 calls the "standard" calendar is this
    USNO version that switches from Gregorian to Julian. <br>
    <br>
    <br>
    Jim<br>
    <br>
    <div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 10/7/13 2:07 PM, Jennifer Adams
      wrote:<br>
    </div>
    <blockquote
      cite="mid:8367EC9F-1E8E-4538-987E-FBFFC0A496EB@cola.iges.org"
      type="cite">Hi, Jim --
      <div>Does the original descriptor file have a 365_day_calendar?&nbsp;</div>
      <div>--Jennifer</div>
      <div><br>
        <div>
          <div>On Oct 7, 2013, at 2:36 PM, James T. Potemra wrote:</div>
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            <div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000"> Hi all:<br>
              <br>
              I'm wondering if anyone knows how GDS derives a date-time
              value from a GrADS style binary file?&nbsp; For example, a
              contributed data set could have a descriptor file with a
              TDEF defining a start-date of Jan 1, 2013 and increment of
              1dy.&nbsp; If this file were served via GDS, the OPeNDAP
              date-time becomes "days-since-1-1-1".&nbsp; In experimenting
              with some GDS-served files, it seems that this conversion
              is off by two days.<br>
              <br>
              Here's an example.&nbsp; The following is daily measurements
              from QUIKSCAT:<br>
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              <a moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://apdrc.soest.hawaii.edu/dods/public_data/satellite_product/QSCAT/qscat_daily">http://apdrc.soest.hawaii.edu:80/dods/public_data/satellite_product/QSCAT/qscat_daily</a><br>
              <br>
              The data descriptor file has the following:<br>
              TDEF 3776&nbsp; linear&nbsp; 20JUL1999&nbsp; 1DY<br>
              <br>
              and the DDS page seems to have the correct values for
              time:<br>
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                charset=ISO-8859-1">
              <table>
                <tbody>
                  <tr>
                    <td align="right" valign="top"><b>time</b>:</td>
                    <td align="left" valign="top">Array of 64 bit Reals
                      [time = 0..3775] <br>
                      grads_dim: "t" <br>
                      grads_mapping: "linear" <br>
                      grads_size: "3776" <br>
                      grads_min: "00z20jul1999" <br>
                      grads_step: "1dy" <br>
                      units: "days since 1-1-1 00:00:0.0" <br>
                      long_name: "time" <br>
                      minimum: "00z20jul1999" <br>
                      maximum: "00z19nov2009" <br>
                      resolution: 1.0 </td>
                  </tr>
                </tbody>
              </table>
              <br>
              However, the OPeNDAP supplied first time-step is 729956
              (obtained either through python call or ncdump).&nbsp; I think
              that this corresponds to July 22, 1999 rather than the
              actual July 20, 1999 as defined in the descriptor file.<br>
              <br>
              Can anyone comment on what's going on here?&nbsp; I found the
              same behavior with two other daily files, same apparent
              2-day off-set.&nbsp; Thanks,<br>
              <br>
              Jim<br>
            </div>
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                  0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-transform:
                  none; orphans: 2; white-space: normal; widows: 2;
                  word-spacing: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span"
                    style="border-collapse: separate;
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                    text-transform: none; orphans: 2; white-space:
                    normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; ">
                    <div>--</div>
                    <div>Jennifer M. Adams<br>
                      Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies (COLA)<br>
                      111 Research Hall, Mail Stop 2B3<br>
                      George Mason University<br>
                      4400 University Drive<br>
                      Fairfax, VA 22030&nbsp;<br>
                      <br>
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