MTH5

MTH5 is an HDF5-based data container for magnetotelluric time series data, with support for related products such as transfer functions and Fourier coefficients. The package provides tools to read, write, inspect, and manipulate MTH5 files.

MTH5 uses h5py to interact with HDF5, xarray to work with indexed time-series data and metadata together, and mt_metadata for metadata models.

This project is developed in cooperation with the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology, the U.S. Geological Survey, and other collaborators. Facilities of the IRIS Consortium are supported by the National Science Foundation's Seismological Facilities for the Advancement of Geoscience Award under Cooperative Support Agreement EAR-1851048. USGS support is provided in part through the Community for Data Integration and IMAGe through the Minerals Resources Program.

• Version: 0.6.6
• License: MIT
• Python: 3.10+
• API Documentation: https://mth5.readthedocs.io/
• Examples and how-to guides: https://iaga-dvi-datastandards.github.io/mth5_documentation.github.io/
• Notebook examples: https://github.com/IAGA-DVI-DataStandards/mth5_tutorial
• IAGA Division VI Data Standards Working Group: https://github.com/IAGA-DVI-DataStandards
• Suggested citation: Peacock, J. R., Kappler, K., Ronan, T., Heagy, L., Kelbert, A., Frassetto, A. (2022). MTH5: An archive and exchangeable data format for magnetotelluric time series data. Computers & Geoscience, 162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cageo.2022.105102

Features

• Read and write HDF5 files formatted for magnetotelluric time series, transfer functions, and Fourier coefficients.
• Create an MTH5 file and add, retrieve, or remove surveys, stations, runs, channels, filters, transfer functions, and Fourier coefficients with their associated metadata.
• Store data in xarray objects so data and metadata stay aligned and time-indexed.
• Read several input formats through companion I/O packages and plugins, including Z3D, NIMS BIN, USGS ASCII, LEMI, StationXML plus miniseed, Metronix (atss plus json), and Phoenix MTU5C.

Installation

Install from PyPI

python -m pip install mth5

Install from conda-forge

conda config --add channels conda-forge
conda config --set channel_priority strict
conda install mth5

Install from source

git clone https://github.com/kujaku11/mth5.git
cd mth5
python -m pip install -e .

For development dependencies:

python -m pip install -e .[dev,test]

General Usage

The typical workflow is:

1. Open or create an MTH5 file.
2. Add a survey, then stations, runs, and channels.
3. Update metadata and write it back to the file.
4. Add derived products such as transfer functions or Fourier coefficients.
5. Reopen the file later for inspection, processing, or export.

Example:

from mth5.mth5 import MTH5

with MTH5() as mth5_object:
    mth5_object.open_mth5("example_mth5.h5", "a")

    survey_group = mth5_object.add_survey("example")

    station_group = mth5_object.add_station("mt001", survey="example")
    station_group = survey_group.stations_group.add_station("mt002")
    station_group.metadata.location.latitude = "40:05:01"
    station_group.metadata.location.longitude = -122.3432
    station_group.metadata.location.elevation = 403.1
    station_group.metadata.acquired_by.author = "me"
    station_group.metadata.orientation.reference_frame = "geomagnetic"

    station_group.write_metadata()

    run_01 = mth5_object.add_run("mt002", "001", survey="example")
    station_group.add_run("002")

    mth5_object.add_channel(
        "mt002", "001", "ex", "electric", None, survey="example"
    )
    run_01.add_channel("hy", "magnetic", None)

    station_group.transfer_functions_group.add_transfer_function("tf01")
    station_group.fourier_coefficients_group.add_fc_group("fc01")

    print(mth5_object)

Additional resources:

• API documentation: https://mth5.readthedocs.io/
• Notebook examples: docs/examples/notebooks
• Broader examples and workflows: https://iaga-dvi-datastandards.github.io/mth5_documentation.github.io/

Project Overview

Introduction

The goal of MTH5 is to provide a self-describing hierarchical data format for working with, sharing, and archiving magnetotelluric data. The project was developed with community input and mirrors the way magnetotelluric data are collected and organized in practice.

The metadata model follows the standards proposed by the IRIS-PASSCAL MT Software Working Group and documented in MT Metadata Standards.

Code Structure

As the code base grew, some functionality was split into companion packages:

• mt-timeseries contains the ChannelTS and RunTS objects.
• mt-io contains readers for supported source data formats and utilities for building ChannelTS and RunTS objects.

MTH5 Format

The MTH5 hierarchy attaches metadata at each level of the file structure.

MTH5 File Version 0.1.0

MTH5 file version 0.1.0 used Survey as the top-level group. That structure limited each file to a single survey. It remains relevant for archived files and historical reference, including datasets already stored in ScienceBase and files used by Aurora.

MTH5 File Version 0.2.0

MTH5 file version 0.2.0 uses Experiment as the top-level group. This allows multiple surveys to coexist in a single file, which makes cross-survey workflows such as remote reference processing easier to manage.

MTH5 is comprehensively logged. If problems arise, check mth5_debug.log when debug mode is enabled in mth5.__init__, and mth5_error.log in your current working directory.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome in the form of bug reports, feature requests, documentation improvements, and pull requests.

To start contributing:

1. Fork the repository.
2. Create a local clone.
3. Install the package in editable mode with development dependencies.
4. Create a feature branch.
5. Run formatting and tests before opening a pull request.

Typical local setup:

git clone https://github.com/your-username/mth5.git
cd mth5
python -m pip install -e .[dev,test]
pytest -n auto tests -k "not slow"

See CONTRIBUTING.rst for the full contribution workflow and project expectations.

Raising Issues

Use the GitHub issue tracker for:

• Bug reports
• Feature requests
• Documentation problems
• Questions about unexpected behavior

When opening an issue, include:

• Your operating system and Python version
• The MTH5 version you are using
• A minimal reproducible example or the exact steps to reproduce the problem
• Any relevant error messages, logs, or sample data details

Credits

This project is developed in cooperation with the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology, the U.S. Geological Survey, and other collaborators. Facilities of the IRIS Consortium are supported by the National Science Foundation's Seismological Facilities for the Advancement of Geoscience Award under Cooperative Support Agreement EAR-1851048. USGS support is provided in part through the Community for Data Integration and IMAGe through the Minerals Resources Program.