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SOS Explorer® 1.6 Release Notes

Starting with version 1.5, SOS Explorer® is now available for free download onto your Windows laptop or desktop! For more information on SOS Explorer® and to download the software, please visit the SOS Explorer® homepage.

Release Date

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Version 1.6.6
December 2025
Version 1.6.5
October 2025
Version 1.6.4
June 2025
Version 1.6.3
May 2025
Version 1.6.2.1
February 2025
Version 1.6.2
October 2024
Version 1.6.1
August 2024

Requirements

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  • Windows personal computer (laptop or desktop) that is not more than 5-7 years old (as of 2024)
  • At least 6 GB of disk space (up to 176 GB depending on the datasets that you select during the installation)
  • At least 8 GB of RAM

Improvements in 1.6.6

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Updates to the Installer

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  • Added a new user interface, progress bar, and exit message to the SOSx updater.

New Datasets Added

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  • Buoy and Float Locations
  • Hurricane Season - 2024
  • Temperature Observations and Instruments

Updated Existing Datasets

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  • Buoy Locations
  • Biosphere: Marine Chlorophyll Concentration and Land Vegetation
  • Temperature Anomaly: Yearly (NOAA) - 1850 - Present
  • Sea Ice Extent - September only
  • Land Surface Temperature

Removed Existing Dataset

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  • Sea Ice Extent- 1978 - Present

Security Fix in 1.6.5

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  • Applied the latest security patch from Unity, our game engine and development platform, to keep the application protected against known vulnerabilities. We recommend updating to this version or above as soon as possible.

Improvements in 1.6.4

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  • Enhanced the bundled SOSx Configurator app located in the SOSx Utilities folder on your Desktop. It now includes higher contrast, improved sizing and layout, a dark theme, support for high-resolution displays, and a “Help” button. Try it out today!
  • Added a feature that runs the real-time dataset syncing program when you open your SOSx app, ensuring your real-time datasets are always up to date. Don’t worry though, if you haven’t installed any real-time datasets this won’t affect your experience!

Dataset Improvements in 1.6.3

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Removed broken YouTube links related to the following Datasets:

  • Atmospheric Chemistry: GEOS-5 Model
  • Carbon Tracker: Fixed Scale CO2 - 2000 - 2015
  • Hurricane Season 2017
  • Hurricane Tracks: Cumulative - 1950 - 2020
  • Groundwater Storage: Ice and Aquifers
  • Earth’s Magnetic Declination
  • Climate Model: Sea Ice Change (GFDL a1b) 1861 - 2100
  • Seal and Seabird Tracks: Pacific Ocean
  • Buoy Locations
  • Marine Debris: Garbage Patch Experiment (drifters and model)
  • Sea Surface Currents and Temperature
  • El Nino and La Nina Seasonal Impacts
  • Japan Tsunami: Wave Propagation - March 11, 2011
  • Ocean Acidification: Saturation State - SSP2 (Moderate) - 2015 - 2100
  • Great White Shark Track
  • Sea Surface Salinity
  • Tsunami Historical Series: Cascadia - 1700
  • Tsunami Historical Series: Chile - 1960
  • Sea Ice Extent - 1978 - Present

Furthermore, we updated our license agreement.

Dataset Addition in 1.6.2.1

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Fixes in 1.6.2

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  • Fixed the missing text issue that occurred when the user clicked the dataset checkbox multiple times in the SOSx Dataset Manger list.
  • The dataset names are now displayed in alphabetical order (A to Z) within the dataset list in the SOSx Dataset Manager.

Improvements in 1.6.1

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  • No admin privileges required for software updates
  • Optimized the user interface.