diff --git a/utils/plot_ASDF_data_info.py b/utils/plot_ASDF_data_info.py
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..48e4a03cd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils/plot_ASDF_data_info.py
@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+#
+# see: http://seismicdata.github.io/pyasdf/tutorial.html
+#
+from __future__ import print_function
+import sys
+import pyasdf
+
+def plot_ASDF_data_info(file,show_plot):
+    print("")
+    print("reading file: ",filename)
+    print("")
+
+    ds = pyasdf.ASDFDataSet(filename)
+
+    # file info
+    print("file info...")
+    print(ds)
+    print("")
+
+    # validate
+    print("validate...")
+    ds.validate()
+    print("")
+
+    # event info
+    print("event info...")
+    print("  number of events: ",len(ds.events))
+    print("")
+    type(ds.events)
+    print(ds.events)
+    for event in ds.events:
+        print(event)
+    print("")
+
+    # station info
+    print("")
+    print("station list...")
+    print("  number of stations: ",len(ds.waveforms))
+    print("")
+    print(ds.waveforms.list())
+    print("")
+
+    for station in ds.waveforms.list():
+        print("")
+        print("station:")
+        print("")
+        print(station)
+
+        # how to get station name and associated waveform?
+        # waveforms
+        sta = ds.waveforms[station]
+        type(sta)
+        print(sta.synthetic)
+        print("")
+        print("waveform list:",sta.list())
+        print("waveform tags:",sta.get_waveform_tags())
+        print("")
+
+        # plotting
+        if show_plot:
+            print("plotting stream...")
+            st = sta.synthetic
+            st.plot()
+
+
+def usage():
+    print("usage: ./read_asdf_data_info.py filename[e.g. synthetics.h5] [show]")
+    print(" with")
+    print("   filename - e.g. synthetics.h5")
+    print("   show   - (optional) plot waveforms")
+    sys.exit(1)
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    # gets arguments
+    do_plot_waveforms = False
+
+    if len(sys.argv) == 2:
+        filename = sys.argv[1]
+    elif len(sys.argv) == 3:
+        filename = sys.argv[1]
+        if sys.argv[2] == "show": do_plot_waveforms = True
+    else:
+        usage()
+        sys.exit(1)
+
+    plot_ASDF_data_info(filename,do_plot_waveforms)
diff --git a/utils/plot_SU_file_with_obspy.py b/utils/plot_SU_file_with_obspy.py
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..da4df407d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils/plot_SU_file_with_obspy.py
@@ -0,0 +1,146 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+#
+# plot_SU_file_with_obspy.py
+#
+from __future__ import print_function
+import os,sys
+
+## matplotlib
+#import matplotlib as mpl
+#print("matplotlib version: ",mpl.__version__)
+
+import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
+
+plt.style.use('ggplot')
+plt.rcParams['figure.figsize'] = 20, 5
+plt.rcParams['lines.linewidth'] = 0.5
+
+## numpy
+import numpy as np
+print("numpy version: ",np.__version__)
+
+## do not show scipy warnings
+#import warnings
+#warnings.filterwarnings('ignore')
+
+## obspy
+import obspy
+print("obspy version: ",obspy.__version__)
+
+
+## Seismic Unix
+#
+# needed on mcmillan
+#suoldtonew < $file | suxwigb #perc=99 &
+
+# reads header info:
+#   ns = number of samples
+#   dt = time step
+#   sx,sy = source coordinates
+#   gx,gy = receiver coordinates
+#sugethw <$sufile key=dt,ns,sx,sy,gx,gy verbose=1
+#
+# removes headers
+#sustrip <$sufile > $sufile.raw
+#
+# wiggle plot
+#xwigb <$sufile n1=$NSTEP n2=$ntraces &
+#
+# image plot
+#ximage <$sufile n1=$NSTEP n2=$ntraces &
+#
+# ps image
+#suoldtonew <$sufile | supsimage label1="Time (s)" label2="Offset (m)" title="$sufile"  perc=99 labelsize=22 verbose=1 > tmp.eps
+#
+# convert to png
+#ps2pdf -r300 -sDEVICE=png16m -sOutputFile=$sufile.png tmp.eps
+
+
+
+def plot_SU_file(file,show_plot):
+    print("")
+    print("getting station information...")
+    print("")
+
+    st = obspy.read(file)
+
+    print("traces: ")
+    print(st)
+
+    print("")
+    print("number of traces: ",len(st))
+    print("")
+
+    npts = 0
+    duration = 0.0
+
+    # trace statistics
+    if len(st) > 0:
+        tr = st[0]
+        #print(tr.stats)
+        npts = tr.stats.npts      # number of samples
+        dt = tr.stats.delta       # time step
+        duration = npts * dt
+
+        freq_Ny = 1.0/(2.0 * dt)  # Nyquist frequency
+        freq_min = 1./duration    # minimal possible frequency for length of trace
+
+        print("trace info:")
+        print("  number of samples = ",npts)
+        print("  time step         = ",dt,"(s)")
+        print("  duration          = ",duration,"(s)")
+        print("  Nyquist frequency = ",freq_Ny)
+        print("  minimum frequency = ",freq_min)
+        print("")
+    else:
+        print("no trace information, exiting...")
+        sys.exit(1)
+
+    # plotting
+    if show_plot:
+        # plots all traces
+        st.plot()
+
+        # time axis for plotting (in s)
+        t_d = np.linspace(0,duration,npts)
+
+        # vertical trace
+        for i,tr in enumerate(st):
+            print("Trace "+str(i+1)+":")
+            print(tr)
+            #print(tr.stats)
+            # plotting
+            plt.title("Trace " + str(i+1))
+            # vertical component
+            plt.plot(t_d, tr.data, color='black', linewidth=1.0,label="raw data trace "+str(i+1))
+            plt.legend()
+            plt.xlabel("Time (s)")
+            plt.ylabel("Counts")
+            plt.show()
+
+
+def usage():
+    print("usage: ./plot_SU_file_with_obspy.py su_file [show]")
+    print(" with")
+    print("   su_file - seismogram file e.g. OUTPUT_FILES/0_dz_SU")
+    print("   show   - (optional) plot waveforms")
+    sys.exit(1)
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    # gets arguments
+    do_plot_waveforms = False
+    if len(sys.argv) == 2:
+        file = sys.argv[1]
+    elif len(sys.argv) == 3:
+        file = sys.argv[1]
+        if sys.argv[2] == "show": do_plot_waveforms = True
+    else:
+        usage()
+        sys.exit(1)
+
+    plot_SU_file(file,do_plot_waveforms)
+
+
+
+