Starting with version 4.1, the netCDF libraries can read HDF4 SD (Scientific Dataset) files. Access is limited to those HDF4 files created with the Scientific Dataset API. Access is read-only.
Dataset types are translated between HDF4 and netCDF in a straighforward manner.
DFNT_CHAR
DFNT_UCHAR, DFNT_UINT8
DFNT_INT8
DFNT_INT16
DFNT_UINT16
DFNT_INT32
DFNT_UINT32
DFNT_FLOAT32
DFNT_FLOAT64