MB-System is an open source software package for the processing and display of bathymetry and backscatter imagery data derived from multibeam, interferometry, and sidescan sonars. The source code for MB-System is freely available (for free) by anonymous ftp (including "point and click" access through these web pages). A complete description is provided in web pages accessed through links below.

MB-System was originally developed at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University (L-DEO) and is now a collaborative effort between the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) and L-DEO. The National Science Foundation has provided the primary support for MB-System development since 1993. The Packard Foundation has provided significant support through MBARI since 1998. Additional support has derived from SeaBeam Instruments (1994-1997), NOAA (2002-2004), and others.

• MB-System 5.1.2beta15 Now Available (December 30, 2009) NEW!!!
  • This is now the latest unstable release of MB-System.
  • The code has been rewritten to work when compiled 64 bit, but has not been well tested yet.
  • For more information read the MB-System 5.1.2beta15 README file.
  • We thank all of the MB-System users who have provided comments, corrections, bug reports, and data samples.

• Update to Integrating Third-Party Bathymetry Editors with MB-System (December 26, 2009) NEW!!!
• This updated document addresses the issue of integrating a third-party bathymetry editor with the MB-System processing environment.
• The edit event definition and related source code have been augmented to handle data from multiple head sonars that produce multiple pings with identical timestamps.
  
• Since some editors may have licensing and distribution schemes (e.g. commercial with source held proprietary) that are inconsistent with the GNU Public License (GPL) applied to MB-System, the suggestions presented here do not involve direct use of GPL licensed MB-System source code.
• For the most part, this can be accomplished using executable programs that are part of the MB-System distribution, and therefore freely available to be installed (but not sold) by third parties.
  
• However, we also include some code derived from the MB-System distribution that we will separately release under the Lessor GNU Public License (LGPL), allowing those functions to be linked with commercial software.

• Directions for Installing GMT and MB-System on Ubuntu (June 14, 2009)
  • On April 18, 2009, Marcel Croon posted instructions for installing GMT and MB-System on Ubuntu systems to the MB-System Discussion List.
  • A slightly edited version of these instructions are available here.
  • Thanks Marcel!

• MB-System 5.1.1 Available (December 31, 2008)
  • This is now the current release of MB-System.
  • For more information read the MB-System 5.1.1 Release Notes and README file.
  • We thank all of the MB-System users who have provided comments, corrections, bug reports, and data samples.

• MB-System Packaged for MacOS X and Poseidon Linux (December 31, 2008)
  • This isn't really new, but we haven't previously highlighted these efforts to package MB-System for easy installation.
  • Since 2004, Kurt Schwehr of CCOM/JHC has maintained a Fink Project MB-System package for MacOs X. Users must specify use of "unstable" packages to make the MB-System package available.
  • Since July 2008, MB-System has been included in Poseidon Linux, the "Scientific GNU/Linux". Poseidon is an Ubuntu Linux based distribution including a selection of open source software packages intended to support scientific research. In particular, it offers several specific tools in the areas of GIS, 3D Visualization, Mathematics, Statistics and several other fields of research.

• MB-System Discussion List has changed (May 16, 2008)
  • As of May 11, MBARI changed the list server hardware and software that hosts the MB-System Disccussion List
  • The MB-System Discussion List URL has changed to http://listserver.mbari.org/sympa/info/mbsystem
  • Anyone can read the list archives. Click on "Archives" in the web interface linked above.
  • Only members can post to the list. Join the list via the web interface linked above.
  • List members can post via the web interface or by emailing to mbsystem@mbari.org

• MB-System Beta Distributions Now Linked in Web Pages (May 16, 2008)
  • Beta Distributions of MB-System are generated much more frequently than "official" releases, mostly because we have difficulty keeping the documentation concurrent with the code development.
  • The sections of these web pages relating to downloads now note that beta distributions are frequently updated, and include a link to the most recent beta distribution.
  • Version 5.1.1 will be released as soon as reasonable documentation is completed for the new tools mbgrdviz and mbeditviz.

• MB-System NSF Proposal Funded (July 26, 2006)
  • The Marine Geology and Geophysics Program of the NSF has approved our request for another five years of funding for MB-System development and support.
  • We thank all of the MB-System users who provided letters of support for inclusion in this proposal. Your time and effort are appreciated!!
  • The proposal can be read here
  
  
• Update to MB-System Cookbook Now Available (January 14, 2006)
  • We are developing an MB-System Cookbook to provide tutorial style documentation for MB-System Version 5. An updated draft of this cookbook by Val Schmidt, Dale Chayes, and David Caress is being made available here along with the data samples used to illustrate the use of our software (see links below).
  
  
• First Visualization-Aided MB-System Tool Released (February 20, 2005)
  • MB-System version 6 is already under development. Our intent is to embed a 3D vizualization capability into tools used for tasks such as project management, bathymetry editing, and patch tests. The first tool using this capability is part of the 5.0.6 release. This program is called MBgrdviz, and allows simple 2D and 3D vizualization of GMT grids. Some screen dumps are available here.

• Integrating Third-Party Bathymetry Editors with MB-System (October 6, 2004)
• This document addresses the issue of integrating a third-party bathymetry editor with the MB-System processing environment.
  
• Since some editors may have licensing and distribution schemes (e.g. commercial with source held proprietary) that are inconsistent with the GNU Public License (GPL) applied to MB-System, the suggestions presented here do not involve direct use of GPL licensed MB-System source code.
• For the most part, this can be accomplished using executable programs that are part of the MB-System distribution, and therefore freely available to be installed (but not sold) by third parties.
  
• However, we also include some code derived from the MB-System distribution that we will separately release under the Lessor GNU Public License (LGPL), allowing those functions to be linked with commercial software.


• Draft MB-System Cookbook Now Available (December 5, 2003)
  • We are developing an MB-System Cookbook to provide tutorial style documentation for MB-System Version 5. A preliminary (incomplete) draft of this cookbook by Val Schmidt, Dale Chayes, and David Caress is being made available here along with the data samples used to illustrate the use of our software (see links below).
  
  
• New MB-System Discussion Email List Established (December 5, 2003)
  • We have established an MB-System discussion email list to facillitate communication among MB-System developers and users see links below (see links below).
  
  
• SURF format API released under GPL by ATLAS Hydrographics GmbH (October 18, 2001)
  • ATLAS Hydrographics GmbH of Bremen, Germany, has released the source code used to read and write swath mapping sonar data in the SURF format as open source under the GNU Public License (GPL).
  • ATLAS markets a number of widely used multibeam sonars, including the Fansweep 15 and Fansweep 20 multibeams for shallow water surveying and the Hydrosweep MD-2 and Hydrosweep DS-2 multibeams for mid- to deep-water surveying.
  • The ATLAS HYDROMAP processing package stores Fansweep and Hydrosweep data in the SURF format. A large amount of seafloor mapping data worldwide is archived in this format.
  • We will be adding support for the SURF format in MB-System soon (as time and resources allow).

• MB-System NSF Proposal Funded(April 6, 2001)
  • The Marine Geology and Geophysics Program of the NSF has approved our request for another five years of funding for MB-System development and support.
  • We thank all of the MB-System users who provided letters of support for inclusion in this proposal. Your time and effort are appreciated!!
  • We also thank Dr. David Epp, our NSF Program Manager, and the mail reviewers and panel members who reviewed our latest proposal.

MB-System is under active development and is updated periodically. This (usually) results in improved performance and additional capabilities, but often means that the documentation (including these web pages) lag somewhat behind the actual software. Please bear with us and send your comments and suggestions.

The MB-System source code distribution and related files, including data samples, are available by anonymous ftp to

ftp.ldeo.columbia.edu/pub/MB-System

Click here to download (by ftp) the most recent stable MB-System source code release.

Click here to download (by ftp) the most recent unstable (beta) MB-System source code release.

To find further documentation about downloading the MB-System source code distribution go to:

How to get and install MB-System

An MB-System package is available for MacOS X through the Fink Project. Users must specify use of "unstable" packages to make the MB-System package available.

MB-System is included in Poseidon Linux, the "Scientific GNU/Linux". Poseidon is an Ubuntu Linux based distribution including a selection of open source software packages intended to support scientific research. In particular, it offers several specific tools in the areas of GIS, 3D Visualization, Mathematics, Statistics and several other fields of research.

Instructions for installing GMT and MB-System on Ubuntu systems are available here.

The complete web page documentation distributed with MB-System can be accessed here:

MB-System 5.1.1 Documentation
• What's new in MB-System version 5
• Short list of capabilities
• List of MB-System programs and links to manual pages
• List of supported swath data formats
• How to get and install MB-System
• Frequently Asked Questions (and answers)
• Future MB-System development plans
• Copyright and Caveat
  

MB-System 5.1.2beta12 Documentation
• What's new in MB-System version 5
• Short list of capabilities
• List of MB-System programs and links to manual pages
• List of supported swath data formats
• How to get and install MB-System
• Frequently Asked Questions (and answers)
• Future MB-System development plans
• Copyright and Caveat
  

The MB-System Cookbook tutorial documentation by Val Schmidt, Dale N. Chayes, and David W. Caress is available both as web pages and as a downloadable pdf document:

MB-System 5.0 Cookbook web pages

MB-System 5.0 Cookbook pdf file

A few swath data format specifications made available to us can be viewed here:

Data format specifications from sonar vendors and other swath mapping sonar links.

Documents concerning how mapping sonars work can be viewed here:

Some local and linked pages discussing how mapping sonars work.

We maintain an MB-System discussion email list to facillitate communication among MB-System developers and users. We encourage users with questions and/or problems to use this list rather than emailing the developers directly. One must subscribe to the list in order to post messages, but the message archive is publically viewable and searchable over a web interface. The maximum message size in this list is 100K.

The web interface to the list is at:

http://listserver.mbari.org/sympa/info/mbsystem

To subscribe to the list go to:

http://listserver.mbari.org/sympa/subscribe/mbsystem

To read the archives go to:

http://listserver.mbari.org/sympa/arc/mbsystem

We maintain a second, very low traffic list of email addresses which is used solely for providing notification of major updates. If you would like to be notified when new releases are available, but do not wish to join the discussion list described above, please send an email message to:

majordomo@ldeo.columbia.edu

with a single line in the body of the message that says:

subscribe mbsystem-l

to be automatically added to the announcement list.