GMT

GMT − The Generic Mapping Tools data processing and display software package

GMT is a collection of public-domain Unix tools that allows you to manipulate x,y and x,y,z data sets (filtering, trend fitting, gridding, projecting, etc.) and produce PostScript illustrations ranging from simple x-y plots, via contour maps, to artificially illuminated surfaces and 3-d perspective views in black/white or 24bit color. Linear, log10, and power scaling is supported in addition to 25 common map projections. The processing and display routines within GMT are completely general and will handle any (x,y) or (x,y,z) data as input.

GMT is also a wrapper script that can start any of the programs:

GMT module module-options

where module is the name of a GMT program and the options are those that pertain to that particular program.

The following is a summary of all the programs supplied with GMT and a very short description of their purpose. Detailed information about each program can be found in the separate manual pages.

blockmean

L2 (x,y,z) data filter/decimator

blockmedian

L1 (x,y,z) data filter/decimator

blockmode

Mode (x,y,z) data filter/decimator

filter1d

Filter 1-D data sets (time series)

fitcircle

Finds the best-fitting great circle to a set of points

gmt2rgb

Convert Sun rasterfile or grid to r, g, b grids

gmtconvert

Convert between ASCII and binary 1-D tables

gmtdefaults

List the current default settings

gmtmath

Mathematical operations on data tables

gmtset

Set individual default parameters

gmtselect

Extract data subsets based on spatial criteria

grdfilter

Filter 2-D data sets in the space domain

grd2cpt

Make a color palette table from a grdfile

grd2xyz

Conversion from 2-D gridded file to table data

grdblend

Blend several partially over-lapping grdfiles onto one grid

grdclip

Limit the z-range in gridded data

grdcontour

Contouring of 2-D gridded data

grdcut

Cut a sub-region from a grd file

grdedit

Modify header information in a 2-D gridded file

grdfft

Operate on grdfiles in the frequency domain

grdgradient

Compute directional gradient from grdfiles

grdhisteq

Histogram equalization for grdfiles

grdimage

Produce images from 2-D gridded data

grdinfo

Get information about grd files

grdlandmask

Create mask grdfile from shoreline data base

grdmask

Reset nodes outside a clip path to a constant

grdmath

Mathematical operations on grdfiles

grdpaste

Paste together grdfiles along a common edge

grdproject

Project gridded data onto a new coordinate system

grdreformat

Converting between different grdfile formats

grdsample

Resample a 2-D gridded data set onto a new grid

grdtrend

Fits polynomial trends to grdfiles

grdtrack

Sampling of 2-D data set along 1-D track

grdvector

Plot vector fields from grdfiles

grdview

3-D perspective imaging of 2-D gridded data

grdvolume

Volume calculations from 2-D gridded data

makecpt

Make GMT color palette tables

mapproject

Forward or inverse map projections of table data

minmax

Find extreme values in data tables

nearneighbor

Nearest-neighbor gridding scheme

project

Project data onto lines/great circles

psbasemap

Create a basemap plot

psclip

Use polygon files to define clipping paths

pscoast

Plot coastlines and filled continents on maps

pscontour

Contour xyz-data by triangulation

pshistogram

Plot a histogram

psimage

Plot images (EPS or Sun raster files) on maps

pslegend

Plot legend on maps

psmask

Create overlay to mask out regions on maps

psrose

Plot sector or rose diagrams

psscale

Plot grayscale or colorscale on maps

pstext

Plot textstrings on maps

pswiggle

Draw time-series along track on maps

psxy

Plot symbols, polygons, and lines on maps

psxyz

Plot symbols, polygons, and lines in 3-D

sample1d

Resampling of 1-D table data sets

spectrum1d

Compute various spectral estimates from time-series

splitxyz

Split xyz-files into several segments

surface

A continuous curvature gridding algorithm

trend1d

Fits polynomial or Fourier trends to y = f(x) data

trend2d

Fits polynomial trends to z = f(x,y) data

triangulate

Perform optimal Delaunay triangulation and gridding

xyz2grd

Convert equidistant xyz data to a 2-D grd file

Look up the individual man pages for details. By default, these pages are in $GMTHOME/man/manl, depending on your installation settings. Information is also available on the GMT home page gmt.soest.hawaii.edu or locally under $GMTHOME/www/gmt/gmt_services.html

Wessel, P., and W. H. F. Smith, 2005, The Generic Mapping Tools (GMT) version 4.1 Technical Reference & Cookbook, SOEST/NOAA.
Wessel, P., and W. H. F. Smith, 1998, New, Improved Version of Generic Mapping Tools Released, EOS Trans., AGU, 79 (47), p. 579.
Wessel, P., and W. H. F. Smith, 1995, New Version of the Generic Mapping Tools Released, EOS Trans., AGU, 76 (33), p. 329.
Wessel, P., and W. H. F. Smith, 1995, New Version of the Generic Mapping Tools Released, http://www.agu.org/eos_elec/95154e.html, Copyright 1995 by the American Geophysical Union.
Wessel, P., and W. H. F. Smith, 1991, Free Software Helps Map and Display Data, EOS Trans., AGU, 72 (41), p. 441.