Ferret (software)
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| Ferret (software) | |
|---|---|
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| Name | Ferret |
| Developer | NOAA |
| Released | 1993 |
| Operating system | Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows |
| Programming language | C (programming language), Fortran |
| Genre | Data visualization, Geographic information system |
| License | Open-source software |
Ferret (software) Ferret is an interactive visualization and analysis tool for oceanographic and atmospheric gridded data developed by scientists to support research at institutions such as National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Princeton University, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. It is designed to work with common scientific data formats and integrates with systems used by researchers at National Center for Atmospheric Research, Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and British Antarctic Survey for tasks involving mapping, time-series analysis, and statistical computation. Ferret’s development and use intersect with projects at NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, University of Washington, University of California, San Diego, and international collaborations including Met Office and CSIRO.
Overview
Ferret serves scientists working with multidimensional arrays produced by models and observations from organizations like European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, National Weather Service, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and International Arctic Research Center. It supports formats popularized by groups such as Unidata, World Meteorological Organization, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and Coupled Model Intercomparison Project participants. The environment integrates with toolchains used at NOAA Climate Program Office, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace, and Max Planck Institute for Meteorology to facilitate reproducible analyses.
Features
Ferret provides visualization, analysis, and scripting capabilities employed by researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, University of Exeter, University of Southampton, and University of Bern. It offers gridded plotting, contour mapping, and vector displays used alongside tools from Matplotlib, GMT (Generic Mapping Tools), IDL (programming language), MATLAB, and R (programming language). Ferret’s functions for arithmetic, aggregation, and temporal filtering are analogous to utilities in NCL (programming language), CDO (Climate Data Operators), and xarray. Data input/output routines interoperate with formats promoted by NetCDF Operators, CF (Climate and Forecast) metadata conventions, and HDF5-based archives maintained by NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information and European Space Agency.
Architecture and Implementation
Ferret’s core is written in C (programming language) with computational routines in Fortran and links to libraries like NetCDF, HDF5, and PROJ (cartographic projection library). Its modular design mirrors approaches used by ESMF (Earth System Modeling Framework), OGC (Open Geospatial Consortium) tools, and software stacks at University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. The command parser and scripting engine resemble implementations found in Python (programming language)-based environments used by Pangeo and integrate with graphical toolkits common at The Qt Company and X.Org Foundation platforms. Deployment patterns follow packaging strategies used by Debian, Red Hat, Homebrew (package manager), and Conda ecosystems.
History and Development
Ferret originated in the early 1990s within groups associated with NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory and saw contributions from scientists affiliated with Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of Washington, Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Its evolution paralleled developments at Unidata, NCAR, JPL, ECMWF, and Met Office as gridded data and satellite products from missions like TOPEX/Poseidon, Jason (satellite), ERS (satellite), and Aqua (satellite) expanded. Community-driven features drew on practices from Open-source Initiative projects and collaborations with academic groups at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California, Los Angeles, University of Oxford, and Imperial College London.
Use Cases and Applications
Researchers use Ferret for tasks in oceanography and atmospheric science at institutions including NOAA, NASA, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory, and National Center for Atmospheric Research. Applications include analyzing outputs from models like GFDL CM4, HadGEM, CESM (Community Earth System Model), and UK Met Office Unified Model; creating diagnostics for CMIP ensembles; and visualizing observational datasets from Argo (array), Global Drifter Program, SeaWiFS, and MODIS. Ferret workflows support studies cited by programs such as World Climate Research Programme, International Geosphere–Biosphere Programme, Southern Ocean Observing System, and Global Ocean Observing System.
Comparisons and Alternatives
Ferret is often compared with analytical and visualization systems used at NCAR, NOAA, and research universities, including NCL (programming language), Python (programming language) ecosystems like xarray and Cartopy, MATLAB, IDL (programming language), and command-line utilities such as CDO (Climate Data Operators and NCO (NetCDF Operators). Choice between Ferret and alternatives depends on integration needs with archives at NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, NASA Earthdata, ECMWF, and institutional toolchains at Scripps Institution of Oceanography or Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory.
Licensing and Distribution
Ferret has been distributed under open-source-friendly terms and is packaged for systems maintained by Debian, Red Hat, Conda Forge, and Homebrew. Its licensing and community governance reflect practices advocated by Open-source Initiative, Free Software Foundation, and institutional policies at NOAA and partnering universities such as Princeton University, University of Washington, and Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Category:Scientific software