fname = "slp.1963.nc" f = addfile(fname,"r") s = f->slp ; read slp off the file printVarSummary(s) ; So I can see the "actual_range" values printMinMax(s,0) ; look at the min/max of short variable fs = short2flt(s) ; unpack s and turn it into a float array printVarSummary(fs) ; To see what happens to metadata printMinMax(fs,0) ; look at the min/max of new float variable