IO backend error in the xarray for netcdf file

Question:

I am trying to open a .netcdf file using xarray and it is showing this error. I am unable to resolve this error and I have found no such solution to resolve this error. I have tried with different versions of Anaconda and Ubuntu but the problem persists.

ValueError: did not find a match in any of xarray’s currently installed IO backends [‘scipy’]. Consider explicitly selecting one of the installed backends via the engine parameter to xarray.open_dataset(), or installing additional IO dependencies:
http://xarray.pydata.org/en/stable/getting-started-guide/installing.html
http://xarray.pydata.org/en/stable/user-guide/io.html

Asked By: saurabh rathore

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Answers:

I had the same issue. I then installed netCDF4 via:

pip install netCDF4 

and xarray worked. Beware of dependencies!!

Answered By: SAEERON

I had the same problem as well. In this matter, you need to install IO dependencies.
Based on their web site here you need to install all IO related packages:

io = netCDF4, h5netcdf, scipy, pydap, zarr, fsspec, cftime, rasterio, cfgrib, pooch 

conda install -c anaconda netcdf4 h5netcdf scipy pydap zarr fsspec cftime rasterio cfgrib pooch
Answered By: water77

Based on your error message, it looks like you are only missing the scipy dependency.

I would recommend installing using conda install in either your terminal/command line or in Jupyter (if you use that IDE):
conda install scipy

If you are using a Python environment other than your base environment, ensure you are installing to the environment are using for the project by navigating there in terminal (e.g., conda activate MYENV), or by running that environment kernel in Jupyter.

You may need to restart the kernel if you are using Jupyter for the change to take effect.

Answered By: Wilson Sauthoff

conda install scipy

solves the problem

Answered By: Rituparna

This error message can also be triggered when simply having an error in the path to the file to be opened. For example this results in the same/similar error (even with the netcdf backend installed):

import xarray as xr
xr.open_dataset("this_file_does_not_exist.nc")

So before (re)installing any packages, make sure to check whether the input to xr.open_dataset() is correct.

Answered By: Eelco Doornbos
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