Madagascar - a powerful software package for multidimensional data analysis and reproducible computational experiments

Adrian D. Smith, Sergey Fomel, Robert James Ferguson

Reproducibility of published scientific findings is critical toward exposure of ideas and results to independent testing and replication by other scientists. Computational experiments are made readily reproducible in theory due to systematic characteristics of computer programs, but this proves more difficult in practice. Madagascar is a Unix-based open source software package that provides an environment for computational data analysis in geophysical and related fields. It incorporates functionality from pre-existing geophysical analysis libraries, and it allows the end user to completely package publications in a reproducible format using SCons and LaTeX. We present two simple computational examples illustrating the functionality of Madagascar. A local reconstruction of several figures from a published paper is given to highlight the power of Madagascar as a vehicle for generating reproducible research. Existing programs developed within CREWES can be incorporated into Madagascar's library. The installation of Madagascar on CREWES servers is highly recommended.