Generic Mapping Tools

Generic Mapping Tools
Name	Generic Mapping Tools
Developer	Paul Wessel and team
Released	1988
Latest release version	6.x
Programming language	C, Bash
Operating system	Unix, Linux, macOS, Windows (via MSYS2)
License	Open-source (PSF-style)

Generic Mapping Tools is an open-source collection of command-line programs for processing and visualizing geographic and Cartesian data. It provides map projection, gridding, contouring, and plotting capabilities used by researchers in oceanography, geology, geodesy, and planetary science. GMT is widely adopted by academic institutions and government laboratories for creating publication-quality maps and figures.

History

GMT originated in 1988 under the authorship of Paul Wessel and Walter Smith while affiliated with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and later developed at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the University of Hawaii campuses. Early development paralleled advances at institutions such as Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory, US Geological Survey, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Over ensuing decades, contributions came from researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, Cornell University, Columbia University, ETH Zurich, University of Oxford, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and University of Texas at Austin. Major milestones include the introduction of grid tools, contouring routines, modernized plotting engines, and cross-platform ports that involved collaborations with organizations like Open Geospatial Consortium adopters and initiatives at European Space Agency research groups.

Features and Components

GMT's modular architecture comprises many executables such as modules for map projection, gridding, and plotting used in workflows by researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, US Geological Survey, Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory, and National Center for Atmospheric Research. Core components include projection utilities (employing algorithms related to work by John P. Snyder standards), gridding algorithms (inspired by methods from Sverdrup Institute and developers affiliated with Princeton University), and contouring/plotting engines used in journals associated with American Geophysical Union and Geological Society of America. GMT integrates postscript-based plotting backends and modern vector output suitable for submission to publishers like Nature Publishing Group, Science (journal), Elsevier, and Springer Nature. Toolkits facilitate interoperability with packages from Python Software Foundation ecosystems, including bindings used by researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, and Imperial College London.

Data Formats and Compatibility

GMT reads and writes a variety of raster and vector formats common to users at US Geological Survey, European Space Agency, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Supported formats include GMT grid files, NetCDF produced by groups at NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, GeoTIFF used by Esri, and simple ASCII tables employed in papers from American Geophysical Union conferences. GMT interoperates with geospatial libraries and standards promulgated by Open Geospatial Consortium and integrates with workflows involving formats from European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts and datasets hosted by PANGAEA (data publisher). Compatibility extends to scripting environments developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and visualization pipelines used in projects at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

Usage and Applications

Researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, US Geological Survey, Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration use GMT for bathymetric mapping, tectonic plate visualization, and climate data plotting. Applications include seismic tomography figures appearing in publications from American Geophysical Union and European Geosciences Union, topographic analyses cited by Geological Society of America, and planetary mapping tasks in collaborations with Jet Propulsion Laboratory and European Space Agency. GMT is also used in educational materials at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, California Institute of Technology, and University of California, Berkeley for illustrating geospatial concepts in theses and textbooks.

Development and Community

Development is coordinated by core maintainers associated with institutions including Scripps Institution of Oceanography and contributors from universities like Cornell University, University of Hawaii, Ohio State University, University of Washington, University of Texas at Austin, and University of Colorado Boulder. Community interaction occurs via mailing lists, code repositories used by organizations such as GitHub, and workshops held at conferences organized by American Geophysical Union and European Geosciences Union. Users and developers contribute modules and bug reports from laboratories such as Shell Oil Company research groups, national labs including Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory, and international centers including NOAA divisions.

Licensing and Distribution

GMT is distributed under a permissive open-source license similar to policies favored by institutions such as Python Software Foundation and is packaged for platforms supported by Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora Project, Homebrew, and MSYS2 for Windows users. Binary distributions and source tarballs are provided to research groups at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, US Geological Survey, NOAA, and university departments including University of California, San Diego and University of Hawaii. Commercial entities such as Esri and consultancies in the oil and gas sector reference GMT-style figures but licensing promotes academic and governmental reuse.

Category:Scientific software