[NcML](https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/software/netcdf-java/v4.6/ncml/index.htm) can be used to edit the metadata associated with netCDF files without modifying the original file itself. The Python implementation is [pyncml](https://github.com/axiom-data-science/pyncml). This might be a good solution to handling incorrect branch times and missing coordinate names in CMIP files?
