An important component of scientific work is being able to take your data with you as you move from one position to another, and being able to work with the data files on the computer systems at your new institute. Similarly, it's vital to be able to exchange data files with colleagues or just read your own files in multiple different packages.

Therefore it is important to have standards-based data formats that are openly and well documented so that anyone can implement a reader and writer for the format. Please use this page to list:

hdf5

[http://hdf.ncsa.uiuc.edu/["HDF5"]/ Hierarchical Data format] is an extremely flexible format, possibly too flexible for its own good

FITS

[http://fits.gsfc.nasa.gov/ Flexible Image Transport System] was developed for astronomy, but could be used by many disciplines. One notable feature is good support for World Coordinates, i.e. translation between pixel coordinates and physical coordinates such as Longitude & Latitude, Frequency, Stokes parameters (polarisation).

XML variants

[wiki:Self:VOTable http://www.ivoa.net/Documents/latest/VOT.html] Virtual Observatory Table format