NORSAR Software Suite 2026 is released!

NORSAR Software Suite 2026 is released: Expanded Modelling Capabilities, DAS Support, and Improved Workflow Reliability

NORSAR Software Suite 2026: Expanded Modelling Capabilities, DAS Support, Improved Workflow Reliability and brand new product PasMon

27 April 2026

We are pleased to announce a new release of the NORSAR Software Suite, introducing important updates across MDesign, NORSAR-3D, and NSS. This release strengthens support for modern acquisition technologies, improves the handling of complex subsurface models, and delivers a broad set of workflow enhancements and bug fixes.

A key focus of this release is to give users more flexibility and confidence when working with increasingly advanced modelling and survey scenarios. The updates include new functionality for Distributed Acoustic Sensing, DAS, improved handling of geophone directivity, an extended General Model Builder in NORSAR-3D, and several improvements related to topographic surfaces, coordinate transformations, model conversion, and visualization.

Enhanced detectability workflows in MDesign

MDesign has been updated with new capabilities that make detectability and uncertainty analysis more representative of real acquisition conditions.

The detectability and location uncertainty workflows can now account for the directivity of single-component geophones. This allows users to include the directional response of these sensors in their analysis, supporting more realistic evaluations of survey performance and monitoring capability.

In addition, MDesign now includes support for DAS in the detectability workflow. This expands the range of acquisition technologies that can be evaluated and helps users assess detectability for projects where fiber-optic sensing is part of the survey design or monitoring strategy.

Together, these improvements make MDesign more useful for evaluating both conventional and emerging acquisition approaches.

Extended General Model Builder in NORSAR-3D

The major update in NORSAR-3D is an extension of the General Model Builder. The tool is now available in two versions: Basic and Advanced.

The Basic version corresponds to the General Model Builder known from previous releases. It keeps the familiar functionality and workflow for users who need standard model-building capabilities.

The new Advanced version introduces a hierarchical structure for Interface, Horizon, and Block relationships. This makes it possible to build, organize, and store model elements in a more flexible way. The Advanced version is designed for users working with more complex geological models and modelling scenarios than those that can be handled efficiently in the Basic version.

This development gives users more control over model construction and provides a stronger foundation for handling complex subsurface structures within NORSAR-3D.

Broad improvements and bug fixes in NORSAR Software Suite

The release also includes numerous improvements and bug fixes in NSS, aimed at improving usability, reliability, and support for important workflows.

The interactive wavefront tracer now has improved handling of surveys created from SPS files. The conversion from 2D models to 2.5D models has also been fixed for cases with non-constant material properties.

Several updates have been made to the General Model Builder. The Smooth and Resample function now works for a single interface, not only when interfaces are merged. This provides more flexibility when preparing and refining model elements.

Workflows involving topographic surfaces have also been improved. The survey-dependent illumination ray workflow now works with topographic surfaces, and the CMP bin size tool has been fixed for these surfaces as well.

In addition, bugs related to coordinate transformation and unit conversion have been resolved, and several color map issues have been fixed.

PasMon

NORSAR introduces PasMon, a new cutting edge software solution for advanced real-time passive seismic monitoring.

PasMon represents a significant step forward, harnessing NORSAR’s deep expertise in seismology and integrating advanced modern analysis methods.

PasMon provides critical insight into subsurface dynamics and supports informed decision-making in demanding operational environments.

A stronger and more flexible software suite

With this release, the NORSAR Software Suite continues to evolve in line with the needs of advanced seismic modelling, survey planning, and monitoring applications.

The combination of DAS support, improved geophone directivity handling, more powerful model-building tools, and a broad set of workflow improvements gives users a stronger platform for working with complex models and acquisition scenarios.