SPEDAS 6.1 now available

The SPEDAS development team is pleased to announce the release of SPEDAS version 6.1!

The most notable update in SPEDAS 6.1 is support for an updated THEMIS FGM calibration file format, which is not compatible with SPEDAS 6.0 and earlier.  The new file format provides better tracking of the variation of Bz offsets, especially in recent THEMIS-E data.

We encourage all SPEDAS users who are still using older releases to upgrade to SPEDAS 6.1 (or a current nightly zip file) as soon as possible. The installation instructions, source code, IDL save files, and precompiled virtual machine executables for Mac, Linux, and Windows are all available for download from the SPEDAS web site:

http://spedas.org/wiki/index.php?title=Downloads_and_Installation

Please email questions, bug reports, help requests, and enhancement suggestions to SPEDAS_Science_Support@ssl.berkeley.edu

The SPEDAS software development has been supported by NASA contracts NAS5-02099 (THEMIS mission), NNG17PZ01C (SPEDAS general development), and NNG04EB99C (MMS sub-contract).

We would also like to thank the many software developers and SPEDAS users who have supported the development effort by contributing code, reporting problems, and suggesting enhancements.

Here is a brief summary of some of the other changes since SPEDAS 6.0 was released in January 2024:

Core Function Improvements

  • Core function improvements (time_double leap second handling) (March)
  • Core function improvements (custom_tick_expression, interp) (May)
  • Core function improvements (HDF reader merge, summary plot AE index) (June)

Plugin Enhancements

  • Plugin enhancements (THEMIS data types, OMNIweb data gaps) (March)
  • Plugin enhancements (MAVEN SWE-SWI calibrations, TRANGE keywords) (May)
  • Plugin enhancements (GOES-R plugin update, Kaguya SPICE kernels) (June)
  • MMS plugin enhancements (FEEPS sunlight contamination masking, mms_load_state bug fix, spectrogram improvements) (February)
  • MMS plugin enhancements (FEEPS bad eye removal, load routine improvements) (March)
  • MMS plugin enhancements (SITL quick science parameter set, compatibility updates) (April)
  • MMS plugin enhancements (SITL OBSSET update, status code improvements) (May)
  • RBSP plugin enhancements (rbsp_load_spice_predict.pro) (January)
  • MAVEN plugin enhancements (summary plots, L2 CDF generation) (January)
  • OMNIweb plugin enhancements (load routine with no_download, use_local_file_first) (January)
  • ELFIN plugin enhancements (load routines for time range, multiple CDF versions) (January)
  • New mission support for Magstar ground magnetometer data (February)
  • MAVEN quick-look tool update (February)
  • MAVEN summary plots improvements, BAZEL keyword for orbit plots (April)
  • WIND plugin enhancements (wi_waves_load, PSD_FLUX, PSD_SFU) (January)
  • WIND plugin enhancements (master CDF metadata utilization) (February)
  • OMNIWeb load routine improvements (code duplication removal) (April)

Other Improvements

  • Leap second update for time_ephemeris SPICE routine (January)
  • Improved color table management (get_line_colors, crib sheet) (January)
  • Bug fix (tplot line color handling) (April)