The data is called "NCP_Shing_Nat_Nicolas_Nov_Mar_Climatology_1998_2009.dat".  time step: 1 (since it's climatology) spatial resolution: 1 deg x1 deg lon_start = 0.125 lon_end = 359.125 (total x_size = 360) lat_start = -89.875 lat_end = -19.875 (total y_size = 71) (1) GrADS: NCP_Shing_Nat_Nicolas_Nov_Mar_Climatology_1998_2009.ctl If you're familiar with GrADS, it can be read directly using this software (http://www.iges.org/grads/) by opening the control file: NCP_Shing_Nat_Nicolas_Nov_Mar_Climatology_1998_2009.ctl. GrADS is a free software and popular among large-scale climate scientists.  (2) Fortran: shing.read.ncpm_grads.f I also include a fortran code for reading the data. (3) Matlab: Read_NCP_Climatology_shing_simple.m Another code is for matlab user. If you are matlab user, this code should be able to help you load the ncp data "NCP_Shing_Nat_Nicolas_Nov_Mar_Climatology_1998_2009" and store the values in the variable named 'ncp'. (remember to change the path/directory in the code)