SeaBASS Software Tools

A number of custom tools have been developed to work with SeaBASS formatted files in a few programming languages, including Perl, Python, MATLAB, etc.


Table of Contents


Software Usage Policy

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Software distribution policy for Public Domain Software

All software tools referenced code is in the public domain, available without fee for educational, research, non-commercial and commercial purposes. Users may distribute this code to third parties provided that this statement appears on all copies and that no charge is made for such copies.

NASA GSFC MAKES NO REPRESENTATION ABOUT THE SUITABILITY OF THE SOFTWARE FOR ANY PURPOSE. IT IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTY. NEITHER NASA GSFC NOR THE U.S. GOVERNMENT SHALL BE LIABLE FOR  ANY DAMAGE SUFFERED BY THE USER OF THIS SOFTWARE.

Important Notes

  • These scripts are designed to work with files that have been properly formatted according to SeaBASS guidelines (i.e. files that passed FCHECK). Some error checking is performed, but improperly formatted input files could cause these tools to error or behave unexpectedly. Files downloaded from the SeaBASS database should already be properly formatted; however, please email seabass@seabass.gsfc.nasa dot gov and/or the contact listed in the file's metadata header if you identify problems with specific files.

  • It is always HIGHLY recommended that before performing calculations with data sets you also check for and read any metadata header comments and/or any documentation accompanying the data files. Special notes and metadata information might impact your analysis.

SeaBASS Software

 

NASA HPLC excel report to SeaBASS format conversion tool

Python based tool to create SeaBASS format file out of NASA-GSFC HPLC excel reports. Download the hplc2seabass-0.0.7.tar.gz bundle, example metadata.csv, and README.md and the README file will have additional info for setting up and using the program.
email seabass@seabass.gsfc.nasa.gov with questions or for assistance.

SeaBASS Utilities python package

 The sb_utilities package is a collection of Python utilities developed to assist with SeaBASS data processing, file manipulation, and mapping tasks, originally developed at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). Download the package and install from the tar-gz sb_utilities-0.0.2.tar.gz or wheel file sb_utilities-0.0.2-py3-none-any.whl . The README file contains additional info for setting up and using the program.
email seabass@seabass.gsfc.nasa.gov with questions or for assistance.

Included Modules

| Module                         | Description                                                                           |
| ------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `sb_change_exts.py`            | Utility to modify file extensions and /data_file_name headers for SeaBASS text files  |
| `sb_get_files.py`              | Retrieves SeaBASS files based on list urls, full file names, partial strings          |
| `sb_histotime.py`              | Generates histogram-style local v UTC time summaries from SeaBASS data files.         |
| `sb_mapper.py`                 | Reads lat/lon data and creates basic geospatial plots using GeoPandas and Matplotlib. |
| `sb_read.py`                   | SeaBASS file reader, SeaBASS data files into data matrices and metadata               |
| `sb_translate_binary_flags.py` | Converts SeaBASS binary flags into human-readable format or vice versa.               |
| `write_sb_lite.py`             | Writes SeaBASS-style files from pandas DataFrames. Input format for level2gen model   |

File-Check Tools

The following tools provide file-verification-functionality for data stored in SeaBASS formatted-files.

Tool Name Programming Language
FCHECK (source code)
Perl

Read Tools

The following tools provide read-functionality to access data stored in SeaBASS formatted-files.

Tool Name Programming Language
readsb
MATLAB
readSB
Python
SeaBASS-File
Perl

Write Tools

The following tools provide write-functionality to compose SeaBASS formatted-files.

Tool Name Programming Language
SeaBASS-File
Perl
readSB.writeSBfile
Python

SeaBASS File Conversion Tools

The following tools provide conversion of SeaBASS formatted-files to other data formats (such as netCDF).

Tool Name Converts SeaBASS files to... Programming Language
sb2nc
netCDF
Perl
sb2icartt ICARTT Web-based tool

Satellite Validation Match-up Tools

The following tools provide a work flow to create satellite validation match-ups to data contained in SeaBASS formatted-files.

Script Name Description Language Location
fd_matchup.py
find relevant OB.DAAC satellite granules from in situ points or a SeaBASS data file
Python
part of SeaDAS software package
mk_matchup.py generate coincident satellite validation match-ups for a SeaBASS data file Python part of SeaDAS software package
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Last edited by David Norris on Sep 5 2025 12:00AM
Created by David Norris on May 19 2016 12:00AM