MATLAB(R) can read and write a wide variety of scientific and image data files, and create graphical displays of the data they contain. This technical example illustrates how to use MATLAB to explore, extract, and display satellite remote sensing data sets distributed by the National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA) in Hierarchical Data Format (HDF).
The example includes both plain HDF and HDF-EOS files. HDF-EOS is a higher-level format that is used to manage and distribute satellite imagery and data products from the Earth Observing System (EOS), a series of satellites designed to study global climate change.

The example also shows how to use direct indexed color to create multiple quantitative color scales in MATLAB graphics, using the COLORSCALE function that we recently submitted to the MATLAB Central File Exchange.