Download McIDAS-X v. 2020.1

McIDAS software releases are distributed as a total replacement of the core system.  Since May 2009 SSEC has been distributing McIDAS-X updates as fully supported Fastrack releases. This means that the software is fully supported by SSEC, and that each change to the software has been tested on all of the supported system configurations. Full system testing occurs at least once on each platform during each calendar year. Prior upgrade versions were distributed once a year, normally in late-May.

The SSEC McIDAS Help Desk provides full assistance for McIDAS software questions pertaining to the current or previous version. The Help Desk will still assist those sites that are two issues behind the current version at a reduced capability. A complete description of your MUG support is detailed in the SSEC McIDAS Users’ Group Policy Document.  If you are upgrading from an older version, please see the past versions page for links to download files and other materials from past versions.

A login name and password is required to download any software. Once you’ve entered your valid login name and password, you can obtain any other McIDAS software your site is licensed to receive (e.g., McIDAS-X and McIDAS-XCD).

McIDAS-X 2020.1 – released 31 July 2020

McIDAS-X Software

2020.1 Installation Instructions for Unix or macOS

Download (e.g., right-click and select Save) the following files to the ~mcidas directory on your McIDAS-X workstation.

IMPORTANT: As noted in the 2020.1 Significant Modifications, CMake is now a required package for building McIDAS-X on all platforms. See the Preparing the Workstation page of the McIDAS-X User’s Guide for specific instructions.

See -XRD Information for more information on McIDAS-XRD.

See the past versions page for links to download files and other materials from past versions.

System Requirements

Apple – supported on macOS 10.14 and 10.13

  1. Tested on:
    1. macOS 10.14.6 Intel w/ gcc & gfortran 8.3
    2. macOS 10.13.6 Intel w/ gcc & gfortran 7.3
    3. XQuartz X server

Red Hat – supported on RHEL 7.x and 8.x

  1. Tested on:
    1. Enterprise Linux 8.2 Intel w/ gcc & gfortran 8.3.1
    2. Enterprise Linux 7.7 Intel w/ gcc & gfortran 4.8.5

Complete System Requirements

Future OS Support Plans

OS User Survey Results

Note: The installation will fail if the names of the downloaded files do not exactly match those listed. If your web browser changes the names of the files during download (e.g., mcidas2020.1.tar.Z becomes mcidas2020_1_tar.Z), you must rename the files before installing.

What's New in McIDAS-X 2020.1

  • Added support for McIDAS-X on RHEL 8 systems, ended support of McIDAS-X on Windows 7 systems and added preliminary support of McIDAS-X on Windows 10 systems. See the Installing McIDAS-X page in the McIDAS-X User’s Guide for the complete list of supported system configurations.
  • Updated GOES-R Series ABI servers to list calculated resolutions in IMGLIST FORM=BAND and FORM=ALL output, and to support GOES-17 Fusion imagery because of modifications to allow more flexible file naming formats.
  • Updated GEO command with improved logic when using Himawari imagery, and when merging imagery from multiple satellites and the domain contains the dateline.
  • Improved performance of RGBDISP command, especially when it is run multiple times in a script.
  • Updated VIIR servers and calibration module to correctly set the RAW value of Band 18 (M13) pixels to zero in bowtie deletion and bad or missing line regions.

See 2020.1 Significant Changes to see a more complete listing of the significant changes, or see 2020.1 – All Software Changes to see a list of all of the code changes included in the release.

If upgrading from an older version, see the past versions page for links to download files and documentation from past versions.