The SAEON Open Data Platform allows for the storage, discoverability and download of multidimensional scientific data. Network Common Data Format (netCDF) is a file format designed for storing multidimensional data in the form of arrays, and is widely used in the atmospheric and oceanographic communities. The netCDF library has been developed by the Unidata program and is freely available. NetCDFs are self-describing, so it is essential that certain conventions are followed when creating these files. SAEON follows the requirements set out by the Climate and Forecast (CF) and Attribute Conventions Dataset Discovery (ACDD) conventions for netCDF metadata and data. NetCDF standardisation also promotes interoperability and allows us to add tools such as THREDDS data services to the data. The main components of a netCDF that should be standardized are dimensions, variables and attributes.