Download NCL binaries and/or source code

Version 5.1.1 is the current version

NCL is available for free as pre-compiled binaries for various systems or as source code on the Earth System Grid (ESG) website. See below for detailed instructions.

Use of this software implies agreement of the NCL source code license and/or the NCL binary license.

In versions 5.0.0 and later, NCL and NCAR Graphics are now available as one package and referred to as "NCL".

To download and install NCL on your system, you need to:

Request an ESG account

On your first visit to the Earth System Grid, a short registration is required. To register, go to:

http://www.earthsystemgrid.org/

and look on the left side of the page under "ESG News" about requesting an account. When filling out the account request form, indicate you are an NCL user somewhere in the "Statement of work" field. The registration will have to be manually approved by an ESG administrator (this should happen within a couple of hours during the regular work week) before you can download NCL.

Note that you will receive an automated email message with a web link that you need to visit before the registration can be approved. Once the registration is approved, you will receive a second "welcome" email message. If you don't receive this second message within a reasonable amount of time, send email to esg-support@earthsystemgrid.org.

If you have problems downloading files from the ESG, please see this ESG troubleshooting guide.

Download source code or the appropriate binaries for your system

Once you are registered on the ESG site, do the following to download source code or binaries:

  1. Login to the http://www.earthsystemgrid.org (ESG) website with your name and password.

  2. Go to the middle of the ESG page to the pull down menu next to "Shortcuts menu" and select "Latest NCL release".

  3. This should take you to a page that says "NCL 5.1.1 Release".

  4. Click on the blue text that reads "NCL 5.1.1 source code", "NCL 5.1.1 binaries (not OPeNDAP-enabled)", or "NCL 5.1.1 OPeNDAP-enabled binaries". If you choose "OPeNDAP-enabled" binaries, then you will additionally need to install some OPeNDAP software.

  5. If this is your first time going to any of these pages, you will be asked to agree to either the NCL Source Code License or the NCL Binary License.

  6. You should now be on a page that has a link to the source code or a page that has links to each of binaries. To download any of these files one at a time, right click on the file description on the left side and the file will start downloading. To select several files to download, follow the instructions on the page for adding each file to your data cart.

  7. Depending on what you downloaded, read one or both of the following sections on installing NCL binaries or building NCL from source code.

Install the NCL binaries on your system

If you downloaded one or more NCL binaries, see the install NCL document on installing your software.

Systems Supported

Binaries for Linux systems are built with both the GCC v3.x and 4.x compilers. Downloading GCC V3.x binaries requires that you have the GCC library libg2c.a on your host system.

Build and install NCL from source code

If you downloaded the NCL source code, see the build NCL from source code document.

Help on installation questions

For questions about installing, building, or porting NCL, post to the ncl-install@ucar.edu email list. You will need to subscribe first.